Xrosed Path of the Familiar
by Lunar Wave
Summary: Yet another "Louise-Summons-Someone-Else-Other-than-Saito" Fanfic. Yes, how boring, right? What is Louise going to summon in this second rate story, you're probably thinking. Taiki jumps head-first into a new world! With new rules to the Digimon X Loader System, how will Taiki learn to cope in the world of Magic? No Romance Pairings, but Saito's Harem will likely become Taiki's.
1. Summoned to Another World, Yet Again!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

**Disclaimer: I don't own Familiar of Zero, nor do I own Digimon Xros Wars**

* * *

**CHAPTER START**

_Familiars_: regarded in Halkeginia as the devoted partners of mages. The use of a spell called [Summon Servant] allows the person to call forth these partners. They can function as the eyes and ears of the mages, as well as the most loyal servants of the mage. In Halkeginia, where the nobility are all mages, many of them must have used the spell [Summon Servant] at least once but, though the Familiar would be given longevity almost equal to that of the mage, the mage's or the familiar's death would mean the end to their partnership. After their familiar's death, some mages may refuse to summon another one, either out of sentiment, or simply because they didn't need one. After all, many powerful mages could live without the need of familiars, among them is the infamous Fouquet of the Crumbling Dust.

Each mage has a proficiency, a strength, and this decides what their familiar would be, and the form of these partners is based on the lineage and power of the mage. A Flame Salamander is likely to be summoned by a potentially powerful Fire Mage. I say lineage, because magic in Halkeginia is a hereditary trait. There are five different elements that would distinguish a mage from another, though only four is known and taught, the other regarded as a lost element. These four elements that are taught are: Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water. However, these four magical attributes are not completely divided from each other, as Fire mages would still be completely capable of, say, transmuting metal, levitation, and summoning water, but they would find difficulty in achieving the same proficiency even with the same power that could torch forests.

Not many know of this, even fewer know of the whole truth, but there are only four special familiars. And they are born from, not of the four elements, but of the lost element. The Element of Void. This story is about this. A Special Familiar born of the lost element. The element of void is, according to my research, represents those things beyond our everyday experience, particularly those things composed of pure energy. Pure Energy. Hmm… I wonder…

/Wisemon, you're getting sidetracked./

Ah, sorry, General… But why would you disturb me in mid-explanation?

/Because I can't turn my back on the readers who are getting bored! On with the story!/

Ah, of course. Now a child descended from Founder Brimir himself, though she doesn't know of this. She is a holder of this lost element and is about to summon, a VERY special familiar.

* * *

**Summoned to Another World, Yet Again!**

* * *

_Answer my call…_

Wha? What was that? A voice? A Melody?

_My servant who lives somewhere in the universe!_

"Uh, is something the matter, Taiki-san?" Tagiru asks me as we walked away from the basketball courts. My face must have gotten a bit odd just now. Who? Who is it? Who is calling?

"Uh, Tagiru, please go ahead of me." I ran off, searching for whoever's voice that was. Where was it? Where was this voice coming from?

_Oh sacred, beautiful, and strong familiar spirit!_

"Shoutmon, do you know this voice?" I took the time to ask my best partner and Digimon King, Shoutmon.

"What voice Taiki?"

So it IS a melody huh… As far as I know, I'm the only one who can still hear melodies… Where is that voice coming from? Is it in that alley?

_I desire and plead from my heart_

There it goes again… Huh? What's that? A portal? It looks like the one that took me to the Digital World…

"Taiki, I have a bad feeling about that portal…" Wisemon's voice called from the Xros Loader. That may be so but…

_Answer my guidance!_

I **just** couldn't turn my back on this voice!

* * *

**Halkeginia: Tristain Academy Forest Clearing**

Meaningless babble and chatter crowded my ears. I didn't understand a thing, nor did I try to. I expected that by jumping into that portal, I would wind up in the Digital World… But this world… Wait…

I grabbed my Xros Loader, hoping to hear familiar voices.

"Shoutmon? Do you hear me, Shoutmon?" No response. Huh? It's either Shoutmon is busy (he IS the Digimon King), or he isn't connected. No other reason would make Shoutmon shut up. Thinking on that line of thought, I guess he really does live up to his name, huh? I heaved a sigh, and placed my Xros Loader once more into its holder on the back of my pants. I turned back to the group of humans that was all around me. Wait a minute… were they looking when I pulled out my Xros Loader. No worries though… no one was watching. I heard a loud roar of unmistakable laughter from almost everyone in the area. I turned around, looking for the cause of their laughter. Then I spotted her. A girl, pink-haired and comparable to a middle schooler like me. She looked embarrassed and indignant at the same time. She was obviously being picked on. I sighed, looking around if there are those who would defend her.

Then I noticed… Huh? A dragon? This wasn't an ordinary human world. Petting the dragon was a blue-haired girl, glasses girl. The dragon seemed a bit scared… Ah well, whatever, I can't turn my back on the pink-haired girl any further! I turned around, only to see said girl walk up to me. Turning to her, she knelt right next to me, pointed a stick at my face, muttered a few random words, and all of a sudden, she kissed me. Wait what? In an instant, I pushed the girl away immediately, spluttering as I tried to clear away the feeling of the kiss from my lips. That was a bad sign. The girl looks angry. Uh… what was I supposed to say? Um… Sorry? Yeah, that could work but… "Ow-ow-ow-wow-ow!" What in D5 was that? It felt as though my left hand was being scorched by something hot... OW! Well that was the last cry of pain coming from me. I reached my numbed left hand to face me. It was definitely scarred, though the shape of the scar was the most curious part…

"Okay, who are you, Commoner?" She asked me. Huh? Umm…

"Kudou Taiki." I replied, without thinking really. "Wait… commoner? What do you mean by commoner?"

"That's what you are." She had replied sharply to me.

"Oh… Uh… Shouldn't you tell me your name as well? I mean, I told you mine…"

"Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere." Okay… Definitely not Japanese. She didn't look it to begin with, anyway, so, no surprises there. Louise, huh? Then I noticed that Louise had already turned around and started walking. She didn't even turn around as she gestured for me to follow her…

"Hey, you're going to be my familiar. So, whether I like it or not, you're stuck with me." Huh? Friendly. Well, I guess she can explain everything to me when we get back. Well, on second thought, why were they flying? So… the humans in this land can fly? Umm… Well, I suppose that makes sense… Somehow.

* * *

**Halkeginia: Louise's Room**

* * *

Every noble are mages. That was the single truth that I could get out of my "master." I added the quote-unquote simply because I didn't like the designation. Well, what normal human who was told to do free labor for someone in an indefinite amount of time would say? Not only that, apparently everyone can use magic.

"Who would believe such an incredulous lie?" She told me, for the… I lost count. Ah whatever. It seems that she doesn't seem to get my point… I avoided telling Louise anything about my world, at least. No point telling her that… If this place was anything like the Digital World, I was called here to do something. And apparently, that something is to be this girl's servant. Well… I'm fine with it until she started undressing right in front of me. I immediately confronted her on this habit of hers, but she simply lashes out that I'm simply a familiar. Apparently, I'm lower than even dogs. Ouch, talk about harsh… So this is NOT the Digital World, I know that much now. There shouldn't be any humans in the Digital World to begin with, but this takes the cake. In this world, digital devices aren't even MADE yet. And Shoutmon still hasn't made contact with me yet…

Oh well, we can worry about that later. I guess I'll take a walk or something, before I have to sleep on the hay stack she provided. Or, on second thought, I'll go sleep on the grass outside. I'm used to sleeping out anyway. Thank goodness for my experiences in the Digital World.

* * *

**Halkeginia: Dorms**

* * *

I walked down the ancient staircase of the dorm, hopefully finding a good spot outside to rest at. Of course, I spotted a few people on my way out, but what was of note was the lovey-dovey couple on the first floor.

"Hey, aren't you the Zero's Familiar?" Ah… they spotted me. Well, that didn't matter. I looked over and saw the two looking at me, with amused faces.

"I heard that Valliere's Familiar was a commoner… So it's actually true huh?" The girl giggled.

"Yes, of course! Failure count plus one for the Zero." The blonde boy snickered, with absolutely no respect. Hey, at least the girl was a bit respectful! "So commoner, where are you headed?"

"Out."

What else could I say in that kind of situation? I was doing my best not to burst out against the boy… wait, what? Why? Why am I getting so up and angry about? I need to go out really quick, maybe sleeping outside would sort things out for me. I sighed, holding tight to the bag that I still carried since this morning and trudged out the doors of the academy. Brrrrrr… it's quite cold out here… I guess they DID say it was Spring. I looked into my bag, hoping to find my Basketball shirt that I could double onto my shirt. I liked this shirt. Sure, it was designed by Yuu, but I was the one who suggested between the two of us to make a Team Xros Heart. I had to smile, as I touched the insignia on the chest. The mark of Xros Heart, and the symbol of our bonds. The mark of Blue Flare is the symbol of Pride, but ours… it was simply special to me. It was one of the first helping jobs that I actually did for a long term. It was amazing, being in the Digital World.

I looked into my bag to find another shirt. Again, the mark of Xros Heart was proudly engraved onto the cloth, but not by me. It was the same shirt that I wore when I returned to the Digital World. I immediately wore it over my basketball shirt. Then I simply used my bag as a makeshift pillow. Comfy at least. The clothes that defined my team, the clothes of Xros Heart. I will forever cherish those. Speaking of Xros Heart… I instinctively grabbed my X Loader. The screen was still blank, with no light coming off the screen. I toyed with the buttons, trying to reach the registered Xros Heart Members. It felt rather empty without Ballistamon and Dorulumon on the list… Well, they went with Zenjirou and Akari respectively so I can't really complain there. The ones who are still on my side are Shoutmon, Starmon, the Pickmons (minus the red one), Wisemon, Pinochimon, Knightmon (Though some of the Pawnchessmons went with Akari), Bastemon, Jijimon, the Red Monitamons… All of their profiles are in black, so that means they aren't in the Xros Loader… Haha… Didn't think so.

"So… I'm stuck here, huh?" A murmur of regret escaped from my lips… What I'm truly worried about though is… Why don't I feel anything? Why? And… since when did I start crying?

* * *

**Chapter End**

I would appreciate Criticism about the idea, if you don't mind~ If I get enough incentive to continue, I might actually take this story seriously.


	2. Realm of Magic, Rise to the Challenge!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

Screw the Disclaimer; I posted this in Fanfiction dot net!

* * *

**The Realm of Magic, Rise to the Challenge!**

The sun had yet to rise; this is what Siesta was told by the nearby clock and the darkness of the sky. Siesta was a maid that worked in the Tristain Academy of Magic, and this was her usual waking hours. And, unlike Louise, she was a commoner. A commoner with no magic, no ability, and would suffer under the whims and wants of the nobles. Luckily, no noble has yet to claim her as a concubine or something. But if that does happen, she would have no choice but to surrender to the higher power. She sighed, walking out onto the field, going near the Tower of Water. She was tasked to water the plants there, but what she found was certainly unexpected.

"Huh?" She faced the unfamiliar boy as he remained slumbering on the ground. _Why was a boy sleeping on the ground like this? And huh? Well…_ The maid seemed confused but decided to wake the boy first to figure out what was going on.

"Umm… Excuse me, can you please wake up…? It's nearing morn…" the boy stirred, rubbing his eyes as he woke. He yawned in a rather stifled manner, trying to hide it with his hand. He looked up and faced the maid. _Why was a maid here?_ That was the first thought that plagued the boy's thoughts. Then he thought: _And why was I sleeping out? Oh yeah… I was transported to a new world… Halkeginia I think…_ As these thoughts clouded his mind, he sighed, feeling satisfied with the answer that his mind came up with, he looked onto the one who woke him up.

"Oh uh… Who are you?" The maid asked him. The boy was merely confused.

"Uh… Kudou Taiki." He replied, without really thinking. "And you are?"

"Siesta… Oh." Siesta spotted the engraving on Taiki's left hand. "Do you happen to be Miss Valliere's Familiar?"

"Uh, yes. I guess that's about right…" Taiki nodded.

"I heard that Miss Valliere got a commoner for a familiar but… I never thought it would actually be true…" Siesta had replied, smiling. She grabbed the watering can right next to her, "Umm… I've got things to do but… why were you sleeping outside like this?"

"Oh, are you watering plants? Let me help you!" Taiki jumped up, reaching out his hand to the girl, for her to give her the watering can.

"Oh uh… it would be defeating of my purpose here if I were to allow someone else to do my tasks for me…" Siesta shook her head.

"I insist. I'm not getting paid anyway, so it won't matter. You'll still get your money." Taiki remained firm with his hand.

"Why would you do this…" Siesta sighed, defeated, as she gave up the watering can and sat onto the side. "Why would you offer to help people? I mean, I'm just doing my job…"

"… Hmm… I don't know. I just can't turn my back on you…"

_Huh?_ Siesta thought, confused by the term. Then she gasped as Taiki pulled off his extra clothing, returning to his crown shirt. He stuffed the clothes back into his bag as Siesta finally calmed down enough.

"Do… Do you always wear clothes on top of the other?" Siesta asked, blushing slightly as she thought that the boy was about to strip or something…

"Uh… not really." Taiki sheepishly scratched his head. "I needed a bit of warmth last night so I had to put on my extra clothing."

_I guess that made sense, but… _Siesta thought to herself. Then she spoke out, "Umm… Sir Taiki…"

"Taiki's fine."

"Oh, okay. Umm… Taiki, why were you sleeping outside again?" Taiki shrugged as he watered the nearby plants.

"Oh, uh… I felt more comfortable outside than on the haystack my summoner gave me."

Siesta smiled at this response. "Is that so?..."

"Hey, the sun's starting to rise." Taiki grinned, as he looked away from what he was doing. Siesta herself can't help but look in the same direction, as the light of the sun finally started peeking out of the horizon. This is why Siesta accepted this job. The sun's bright rays touched everything in the area, soon overlapping the two moons in its path as it lighted up the land. The beautiful sunrise is something the maid always looks forward to every single morning. Siesta turned back to look at Taiki. He looked surprisingly handsome as he grinned, watching the sun rise.

"Sometimes it'll be a bad day, where nothing goes the way I want it to… but even if the sky blurs through my tears… I'm sure my smiles will come back tomorrow… So it's okay." Taiki sang softly, though Siesta could still hear it. Siesta smiled, looking as the sun directly lit the green-rimmed odd-looking glasses (Taiki's Goggles)… it looked so pretty… Wait… he's been watering that same spot for quite a while now.

"Ah, Taiki! You're overdoing it!" Siesta rushed, as Taiki dumbfounded face looked over to her only to get crashed into by the maid. The watering can flew into the air, water from inside, spilling out from the hole on top. The sun's light struck some and created a few pretty rainbows, but…

"AH! I'm so sorry, Taiki!" Siesta bowed profusely at the boy, whose shirt was now completely soaked. The good news was that only the top half of his body, namely the shirt and the head got wet.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm lucky that I removed my other clothes before."

"I'm so sorry…" Siesta bowed once more.

"Don't worry about it." Taiki shook his head, as he grabbed a towel from his bag. He removed the wet shirt and started wiping off the water from his body.

"Ah… I'll take care of washing that…" Siesta quickly said, grabbing the wet shirt.

"Oh, ah… sure. Thanks Siesta." Taiki grinned at her. Now he was officially topless and it merely made Siesta blush harder. Taiki then took his other shirt, the one with the insignia of Xros Heart and put it on. The shirt looked tight on the boy, but otherwise, it fit well enough.

"Good thing I got this shirt modified the other day." Taiki chuckled, amused, as, if it wasn't modified, it wouldn't even fit him anymore. Taiki turned to the girl. "Don't worry about it, Siesta."

"Oh… okay…" Siesta nodded, a bit scared. If Miss Valliere discovered what she did to her familiar… Oh nonononono…

"This will be our little secret." Taiki told her, as though he read her mind. "Don't tell anyone that I was out here, okay?" Siesta heaved a sigh of relief, nodding gratefully. Taiki grinned, "I'm going to wake up Louise, now, so take care, Siesta."

"Umm… Taiki… If you ever need me for anything, please don't hesitate." Siesta called to the boy.

"Sure thing! I might call you a bit earlier than that though… I need you to teach me how to wash underwear." Taiki laughed a bit, "Louise is VERY demanding." Siesta nodded, happily.

"I'll be in the kitchen." The two parted, as Siesta continued her task of watering the plants.

* * *

**Outside Louise's Room**

_Well, I locked myself out, I remember that much._ It was to keep people from randomly entering her room, anyway, so she can't complain. Taiki shrugged, as he tried the door of the room. _Well, since I'm stuck outside, she can't complain about her clothes._

"Louise, it's time to wake up." Taiki called from the hall as he knocked on the door, repeatedly. He wasn't asking to be allowed in though, so he simply shrugged, hoping that what he just did was enough to wake the girl. A few minutes later, a few other students came walking out, their capes billowing against them. They looked at Taiki once and they snickered slightly.

"That's Louise the Zero's Familiar, right?" They whispered as they passed him. Taiki shrugged, as he leaned on the wall right next to the room of Louise. He knocked occasionally, waiting for a reply. Soon he got a reply of:

"I'm awake, dumb dog." And with that Taiki nodded, hoping to just relax. Taiki sighed, as he remained outside. And soon, another girl exits her room and into the hallway. It was the red-haired girl from yesterday.

"Oh my… Aren't you Louise the Zero's familiar?" The girl asked, with a haughty voice.

"That's right." Taiki nodded, accepting his position in this society. Well, he accepted it the moment Louise brought him into her room, but that hardly matters.

"Well, so it's true that you are a commoner." She laughed.

"I suppose you could call me that."

"Well, I suppose introductions are in order." The girl raised her head, "I am Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst, and this is MY familiar." Kirche pointed down to her heels. Right next to her was a very red lizard, with a flame burning on the tip of its tail.

"A Salamandermon." Taiki said automatically but immediately reached for his mouth to shut himself up.

"Just Salamander, Familiar." Kirche laughed. "My dear Flame is not a monster~"

_So she assumed that I almost said monster instead of a Digimon. So she doesn't know about Digimon at all…_ Taiki grinned to himself.

"Umm… I'm Kudou Taiki."

"That is a strange name…" Kirche remarked. "Kudoutaiki… Oh well, I guess I'll call you Mikey instead." Taiki blinked, _huh? Where'd she get Mikey from?_"

"Just Taiki is-" He never got to finish what he was about to say when the door slammed open.

"Zerbst, keep your filthy hands off of my familiar!" The tiny terror known as Louise stomped out of the room, fully dressed and with a vengeance. Louise turned to Taiki now, "AND YOU! What were you doing outside of the room? You are supposed to be next to me as much as possible! You failed to do what I asked you to do! And what's worse? You were talking with my family's RIVAL, the Zerbst! You will not be having breakfast!"

"Oh my my…" Kirche butted in. "You seem to be rather rude to your own familiar, Valliere." Louise snarled back, to which Kirche paid no heed as she continued: "You must surely take care of your own familiar since he just arrived. He's not as close to you as Flame is to me~" To this, Kirche went over and petted her salamander. The salamander made sounds akin to a cat purring, except more scaly if anything.

"Nonsense. A plebeian like him should know his place already!" Taiki sighed, knowing that the situation isn't getting any better. _And did Kirche suddenly become more provoking when Louise came out? She was a bit more amicable when she was talking to me…_

"Well, a Zero like you summoning a commoner might as well be expected anyway~" Kirche laughed. "You can't even bond with your familiar properly!"

"I'll be going to do your washing now, Louise." Taiki sighed, hoping to get away from the duo. "Since I won't be having breakfast, after all." Taiki went and entered Louise's room. He then exited with a basketful of clothes. Taiki briskly walked away from the area, as Louise and Kirche continued their feud.

"Your own familiar can't even call you by a title!" was the last thing Taiki heard from Kirche. "That just shows how much of a Zero you are!" Taiki sighed, took out his Xros Loader, opened the map function of the device, and went off to search for Siesta.

* * *

**Kitchen**

"So you are the familiar of Miss Valliere, I see… Taiki, correct?" The cook looked at Taiki upon his arrival.

Taiki nodded. "How did you know?"

"Siesta was carrying a shirt with her, and said that it was yours… She went off to the back, you can find her there."

"Thank you."

"Hey, have you eaten?"

"Uh… no… not really… My summoner said that I shouldn't get breakfast or something…"

"I gotta pity you, though…" Taiki turned back to the chef. "Us servants at least get paid for our labor, but you are stuck without even a single cent… Your fate is the saddest for us commoners." A murmur of agreement echoed through the room, from many of the servants in the room. Sympathizing voices echoed as a plate of food was suddenly given to Taiki. Taiki received it gratefully.

"It's fine for now." Taiki nodded. "It's not like I can turn my back on this anyway. I need to do my best at least." The chef nodded, allowing Taiki to sit on the nearby table and start eating.

Several minutes later,

"T-Taiki?" Siesta had returned to the kitchen, only to be surprised to see Taiki.

"Oh, hello again, Siesta." Taiki waved to her, as he ate.

"Uh… did you need something?" Siesta asked, as she grabbed her own plate of food and sat in front of the boy.

"Oh, nothing, really. I just needed some help with laundry." Taiki shrugged, motioning to the basket of dirty clothes.

"O…Oh! Please, Taiki, allow me to handle those… You must return to your master's side… I wouldn't wish to anger a noble by making her familiar remain behind…"

"Are you sure?" Taiki blinked, confused. "Umm… I can't let you take the job though. It's really mine anyway, so I should do it myself."

"… Uh… okay." Siesta sighed. "Then… just this once, as payment for what happened this morning, let me do it… I was just washing anyway…"

"Speaking of which, you washed my shirt, right?" Taiki asked, "Thank you for that… I guess, I can let you do it this time… But I'll repay you. Definitely." Taiki nodded, as he stood up.

"I'll be going now." Taiki replied, leaving the kitchen, hoping to find Louise again, and maybe… get to the bottom of this situation.

* * *

It didn't take too long for Taiki to find the little girl, as she was calling for him as well.

"Where have you been?" Louise asked, crossly. Taiki shrugged in response, not sure how to reply to that. "Well, whatever, there's only one class today, and you're going to attend with me."

"Just one?"

"We're supposed to spend the rest of the day with our Familiars, so that we can connect." Louise replied. She started walking, following a group, all with black cloaks.

"Hmm… Black Cloaks are Second Years, right?"

"Yes." Louise nodded. "You're not dumb, at least." Louise nodded. "Violet Cloaks are the Third Years, while Brown Cloaks are the First Years. Remember that well."

"I see…" Taiki nodded as the two finally arrived at a classroom.

* * *

Taiki grabbed as much broken wood as he could and dragged them over to the side. He had just recently discovered why Louise was called Zero, though he hoped it wasn't as explosive as it is.

"I guess that's proof that you ARE magic, though." Taiki said off-handedly. "If you didn't have magic, there wouldn't even BE an explosion."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm unable to properly cast magic." Louise replied softly. "I'm not even a dot mage because of that… Ugh… and I tried all four! Water, Wind, Earth, even Fire! But none of them seems to work…"

"There was that fifth element right? Void was it?"

"That element has been lost already." Louise replied, frustrated.

"Just because the art was lost, doesn't mean it doesn't exist anymore." Taiki replied. "You should open up to more possibilities."

"… Why are you saying things like this, even though you don't even understand it!" Louise snarled, "You're not even a mage, commoner, so don't say a thing."

"I'm saying these things because I can't turn my back on you." Taiki replied. "You keep moping about not being able to cast magic, when you haven't even tried all the possibilities."

"Stop. That's borderline heretical now, familiar."

"Taiki."

"Fine. Taiki it is. Taiki, if you keep that up, I'm going to keep you from having lunch as well!" Louise scolded him.

"I'm fine with that." Taiki nodded in affirmation. "Because, in the end, I might actually be able to help you." Taiki stood up. "Can you please let me help you? You are the reason that I came to this world. Can't you allow me to at LEAST do that?"

"You COMMONER! No lunch AND dinner for YOU!" Louise marched out the room, without even finishing what the teacher had them do. Taiki sighed, pulling out his Xros Loader.

"What am I doing wrong?" Taiki asked. "Shoutmon, can you hear me?" No response came from the device, causing Taiki to waver. Taiki sighed, walking towards the nearest pile of debris. If his master isn't going to do it, he's going to do it at least. And then, an unexpected voice made itself known to Taiki.

"**YO, TAIKI, CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"**

* * *

Lunch time arrived quickly, and all second years have no class left for today. Taiki looked around, not sure what he was supposed to do. He was soon called back by Louise, and he simply followed the girl around, hoping to appease her frustration.

"Go get me tea." Was all Louise told him, and Taiki walked off.

"He seems happy…" Louise mumbled. "Did something good happen?"

"Hey, Valliere." Louise spun around and turned to the girl that called out to her.

"Zerbst, what do you want?" And indeed, the red-headed Germanian stood proudly in front of the diminutive Louise.

"You're still too rude to your own familiar." Kirche taunted. "Sooner or later, Mikey over there would finally be fed up and run away. You Vallieres always had a penchant for that sort of thing." Louise snarled.

"Whether he runs away or not, I don't care." Louise huffed.

"You know something, Mikey over there is quite interesting. He didn't get surprised to be so near Flame."

"You mean your Salamander?"

Kirche nodded. "For some reason, I noticed that he just became wary. Like he was used to seeing a salamander or something. He was wary instead, like a lizard, that at a single movement, it would suddenly be ready to run."

"Is that so?"

"Also, you may not have been looking yesterday, but his shirt was interesting as well."

"Huh?" Louise squinted if she could see Taiki's shirt from this distance. Huh?

"Oh, he changed shirts today." Kirche shrugged, causing Louise to glare at her.

"So what was with his shirt yesterday?" Louise asked coolly.

"It had a symbol of a crown on it." Kirche grinned as Louise's face somewhat blanked. "Tabitha pointed it out to me a while ago, and I was like, huh? Why would Mikey have a crown symbol on his chest?"

"It probably means nothing." Louise said hurriedly. Louise turned back to look at the direction of her familiar, and huh? What was going on there? Was Guiche… Louise immediately ran up over to them. Guiche was already walking away, while Taiki looked at the maid with a confused face.

"Familiar!"

* * *

Taiki sighed, as he walked over to… where was he supposed to go again? Maybe he'll try the kitchens. He might actually find something over there. He stopped short when he saw Siesta pass him, carrying a plate of what appeared to be tea and shortcake.

"Hi, Siesta." Taiki called out to the girl. Siesta twirled around, bewildered by the voice. She saw Taiki, and nodded at him, but that was when a boy suddenly bumped into her without caring, and caused her to somehow ending up falling YET again. The tray crashed onto the ground, and the teacups were completely broken.

"Are you alright?" Taiki asked to the maid.

"Not really…" Siesta sighed, as she looked at the broken cups. Luckily, she was carrying only two, but that was still quite a lot.

"Hey maid, clean up the mess you made." The blonde boy from last night appeared before us, with a rose in his hand. "What if a noble trips on the wet bricks?" Other boys are around the blonde… For some reason, they reminded Taiki of a posse of Yuu's Fangirls. Amusing, but this one seemed to be quite intent on making Siesta's life miserable.

"You're going to have to pay for the broken cups, maid." Siesta's head hung low.

"Yeah, that would teach you a lesson to look where you're going." Hey, you were the ones who bumped into her! The group paid no heed at Taiki's angry face, and simply sat down on a nearby table. Taiki sighed.

"I'll help you." Taiki sighed, kneeling down and helping the girl pick up the porcelain shards. He placed the shards onto the fallen tray, while, Siesta pulled out a piece of cloth and wiped the walkway. As he did so, he noticed a bottle of perfume lying around there. _Oh yeah, that blonde boy dropped this a while ago. I guess I'll return it._ "Siesta, I'll be giving this back, okay?" Siesta nodded. She started picking up the shards that Taiki left behind as the boy walked over to the group of boys.

"So, Guiche, which girl are you going out with now?"

"Silly," the blonde boy with a rose scoffed. Taiki assumed that was Guiche. "Go out? I am a rose that grows for many. No single woman holds my heart."

"Excuse me?" Taiki walked over to the boy, "You dropped this."

"That is not mine." Guiche replied with an uncaring tone.

"It fell out of your pocket. So I believe it IS yours."

"Oh, that perfume, that is a perfume that Montmorency makes for herself right?" The boy (who Louise had earlier called Malicorne the Common Cold) asked.

"So by having this perfume, that means you are going out with Montmorency, right?" Taiki sighed, placing the perfume on the table, only to turn around and be face to face with the brunette with a brown cloak from last night. _Maybe she was Montmorency? But… why was she crying?_

"Guiche-sama… So you were… you were cheating on me?" _Huh? I don't get it… _Taiki thought.

"No Katie… You are the only one who I hold dear in my heart."

_Huh? I thought you said that no single woman holds your heart._ Taiki blinked, now utterly confused. _Why is this guy being so inconsistent?_

"That perfume is more than enough proof." Katie sobbed uncontrollably. She slapped him on the left cheek, and ran. "Goodbye!" Okay… That was weird, and here comes another girl, one with curly blonde hair.

"Montmorency. This is a misunderstanding. All I did was accompany her on a long trip to the forests of La Rochelle..." Guiche said, shaking his head. While he was pretending to remain composed, a drop of cold sweat ran down his forehead.

_So THIS one is Montmorency… So uh… why is she angry too? Wait… oh I see. This guy was two timing on them, huh?_

"Just as I thought! You've been making moves on that first year, haven't you?!"

"Please, Montmorency the Fragrance. Don't twist your rose-like face in anger like that. It saddens me to see it!" Well, say that to the wine that's now dripping over your head, courtesy of said girl.

_She ran off quickly as well…_ Taiki sighed, deciding to just walk away. While Guiche still tried to look cool for his posse.

"Hey, commoner. Stop right there." Taiki blinked. Huh? What does this guy want?

"You have some nerve making two nobles cry! Thanks to your thoughtlessly picking up of the perfume bottle, the reputation of both ladies is tarnished."

"I have no idea why that's my fault. As far as I can tell, it's your fault." Taiki coolly replied, and started walking away again. His posse of friends decided to pick fun of him as well. Guiche seemed to be burning up yet again.

"I pretended not to own the perfume, correct? It wouldn't hurt to play along, waiter."

"Familiar."

"Ah yes… wait, you are the Zero's familiar, aren't you? Figures. Couldn't expect a commoner to understand how noble's wit…"

"The only wit I've seen from you lousy blowhards was you bossing everyone around while you sit there and squabble about being a rose." Taiki blinked, sweated, and gulped. Reaching for his holster on the back.

"That wasn't me." Taiki automatically said.

"Yeah! It was me who's talking, you bastard. You can't talk to my GENERAL like that." Guiche's eyes just started glaring worse.

"The way you address nobles, I'll teach you respect. I ask for a duel. Meet me at Vestri Court 30 minutes later." Guiche smirked, walking away from the area.

"I'll show you nobility!" And with that, everything was sealed. The crowd parted, some heading for the said Vestri Court, while others just staying behind to finish eating. Taiki walked away, sighing gravely, hoping to return to Louise, when Siesta approached her.

"Wha… why… Why would you… Taiki… you might die… oh…" Siesta ran away, leaving Taiki to stand there dumbfounded.

"Familiar!" A voice called over to him.

"Huh? Oh, hi Louise."

"Don't "Oh, Hi Louise" me." Louise replied. "Apologize to him."

"I'd do it in a moment's notice." Taiki replied. Louise heaved a sigh of relief. "But I got a promise to keep." This caused Louise to glare at him promptly.

"So… I'll go dress up for the fight!" Taiki sighed. "I can't wear this. I might tear it…" Taiki pointed to his blue and red T-shirt. "I wonder if the shirt is dry yet…" He left Louise in the dust as he sped off to find something.

"Ugh… why is MY familiar the only defective one…?" Louise would've chased after him, but he seems to be going away. Louise sighed and hoped that Guiche would forgive him if she herself went to him.

* * *

**Vestri Court**

Louise was sorely disappointed. Not only did the familiar arrive, he even went and changed his clothes. And huh? That shirt… The crown décor… Why… Why did Taiki have a crown on his shirt? It doesn't make sense… The odd symbol on his earlier shirt was quite enough as it is. Behind him trailed a worried maid.

"So you have arrived, commoner." Guiche taunted. "And you even dressed up in red for the occasion."

"It's a duel! Guiche de Gramont vs. Louise's Commoner!" Someone from the audience called. Taiki had to sweatdrop at that description.

"I commend you for not running away though. Your bravery is commendable."

"Thank you." Taiki nodded. "There's something I would like to make clear though."

"What?"

"What kind of duel is this? A friendly spar or a duel to the death?"

"Hah, the latter! But if you would apologize, I would spare you."

"Then, let's go." Taiki rushed over. But Guiche waved his rose, and from that petal that lands on the ground, a bronze statue was summoned. It then rushed at Taiki at high speeds. Taiki was surprised and was hit by the statue.

"Oh, did you think I would not use magic? I am a mage, so, by default, I WILL use magic." Guiche grinned. "I am Guiche the Bronze, and this is my Valkyrie, my bronze golem." Taiki sighed, stretching and rubbing his hurt stomach. Ouch. Taiki stood up once more, and Guiche sent the Valkyrie towards him. Only this time, Taiki sidestepped, grabbed the Valkyrie's arm, and threw it away, as in Judo. It crashed into the concrete floor with an audible clink.

"Quite good, commoner." Guiche nodded. "But the Valkyrie is still in one piece." The statue stood up.

"Guiche."

"Address me properly, commoner."

"Are you sure this would be a duel to the death? Are you sure you wanted that?"

"If a commoner like you would actually challenge nobility, I'll show you to respect your betters."

"Then I won't hold back." Taiki nodded. His face grew dark, not sure how to do this. He then found the right words to say. "I don't have anything against you, Guiche. But… you continue to disrespect us commoners, and expect us to respect you all the same. I've seen the staff of this school. And the mere mention of fighting a noble frightens them."

"And it will frighten you as well when this is over." Guiche replied.

"Let me finish. So, do you know what this crown on my chest means, Guiche? It symbolizes something that I worked hard for. This crown helped me reach my ideals. I gained the crown on my chest, not by making others fear me. I gained it by finding the good in everyone I meet. And soon… I'll help you find the good in you, too, Guiche."

"What do you mean?" Guiche asked, confused. This was the first time that he noticed the symbol. What DID it mean?

"When I mean is… I just can't turn my back on you!" Taiki grinned, pulling out his Xros Loader.

"Taiki, let's do this." The same voice that Guiche presumed was Taiki taunting him talked once more. Taiki then raised the device into the air.

**SHOUTMON DIGIXROS!**

**Chapter End**

Okay, so yeah, I got this story updated. Review, if it means anything to you. After all, I'm not 100% focusing on this story. Also, note that this chapter is actually quite rushed, as I wanted to skip the incidents that those who watched Zero no Tsukaima should really already know about. I'd rather not let you read something as boring as that.


	3. Realm of Digits, Unstoppable Xros!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

Disclaimer: I'm posting this on a website for FANfiction. Enough said.

* * *

**The Realm of Digits, Unstoppable Xros!**

* * *

**/Flashback/**

"YO, TAIKI, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Taiki sighed, as all broken items have been dispatched to the other end of the room. He then sighed, resting on one of the chairs. Louise has yet to come back from her rage. And honestly, though it was just one day since he arrived, Taiki was exhausted. How explosive can one spell be? However… when he heard that very familiar and very LOUD voice, he instantly pulled out his Xros Loader and saw a familiar face.

"Shoutmon!" Taiki grinned, seeing the familiar face on the screen. "Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry about that. But we had quite a difficult time trying to connect to this place, Taiki."

"What do you mean, Shoutmon?"

"Yo, Wisemon, tell him what happened!"

"Hmm… Very well." Wisemon's face pushed Shoutmon's face from the screen. "Taiki, when you first came here, all of us actually came with you."

"But you weren't available when I looked through my Xros Loader…"

"Yes, but that's because of how limited the digital energy is in this world. It's hard to make a decent connection. It's even less here than the Human World, and we're had a very difficult time assembling our data in this world, much like what you humans call a "lag". Luckily, the Xros Loader is pretty much a stronghold of Digital Energy, so we are able to get a stable but still weak connection between the two worlds."

"So it's difficult to go from the Digital World to here?"

"Yes. But since we were able to acquire a stable connection, it should be relatively easier now."

"I… I see…"

"But, man, Taiki, you sure scared us!" Shoutmon interrupted the two. "We thought we wouldn't be able to see you again!"

"Haha, sorry." To think that he'd see Shoutmon again, is truly a blessing in disguise.

"So Taiki." Wisemon once more took over the screen. "Can you tell me more about this world? There are foreign elements in the air, and we need to know a bit about them as much as I could."

Taiki nodded, "From what I could tell, this is a world of magic."

"As in card tricks?"

"No, Shoutmon. I mean real magic." And with that Taiki started explaining everything that he could about this world. How familiars are summoned, how all nobles are mages, about the five elements of this world, and many other details that Taiki was able to gather from the hearsays around the campus. Amusingly enough, it's only been a day since he's been here, and he already knows so much about magic.

Wisemon sighs from the Xros Loader, "This is truly a troublesome matter. If magic reigns supreme in this world, and didn't allow for technology to flourish, no Digital Energy would even abound here. Without Digital Energy, it might be difficult for you to return home, unless you were like us, completely made out of data." Taiki sighed. He hoped that Wisemon would've been able to do something about the situation. Wisemon interrupted his trail of thought. "Well, I'd like to see what magic can do up and personal."

"So are there any other things that would be troublesome in this world?"

"Of course, for one thing, we need Digital Energy to do [Reload]."

"So that means, I can't even do [Reload] to summon you when I need it?"

"Actually, Taiki. You still can. But… the drawback is that when you [Reload] us, it would suck as much Digital Energy from the area. No matter how trace it is, it would be gathered. However, to gather so much Digital Energy enough to form, say, King Shoutmon himself, would be quite taxing on you. It might even drain you for the rest of the day."

"That sounds difficult…"

"But we still want to help you, General!" A voice Taiki recognized was Starmon called from somewhere. Taiki grinned and waved his Xros Loader, to see his full army. Unlike most Hunters, Taiki steadfastly refused to call them his "collection", preferring the term army, as he was once a General. "I'm counting on you then. So how can you guys help me if Reloading is difficult already, Wisemon?"

"Hm? Oh that's quite simple…"

**/Flashback End/**

* * *

"SHOUTMON DIGIXROS!" Taiki yelled, as he raised his Xros Loader into the sky. A bright light blinded everyone in the area. Louise couldn't believe what she just heard. What was that dumb familiar… Wha… wha? Was that magic? No… Why would there be magic that automatically gives Taiki a yellow scarf around his neck. He even got two circular objects covering his ears, both with a crown symbol. His glasses (**LW: Goggles**) now had red rims, and the glass became completely blue.

"Oh my, you used that odd device to summon a bright light, and you wore a scarf. How lovely." Guiche said, with a flamboyant grin. It was as if he was mocking him. "Don't mock real magic, familiar!" Guiche caused his Valkyrie to attack Taiki once more, but then…

"Wha, so high!" A person from the crowd gasped, as Taiki jumped high into the sky, several times his height.

"Woah, Shoutmon, this is fun!" Taiki laughed.

"Of course, Taiki! This is the first time I actually Digixrosed with a human, but I'm glad it was you!" That's right. The solution Wisemon had come up with was to Digixros Taiki with a Digimon. Taiki was a person from the Real World, meaning he is less digital than any Digimon. But, he had thrice been converted into data and back, the two times he went to the Digital World, and the third was when he was absorbed by Quartzmon during that final battle. Because of these facts, Wisemon had hypothesized that Taiki should have enough digital data in his system that he could DigiXros with the Digimon. He was NOT disappointed, as proven by this. However, Taiki's physical data hadn't been affected all that much, but one could still see the aspects of Shoutmon in the two's Digixros. And to be honest, it simply seems like Taiki was simply channeling Shoutmon through his body.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Shoutmon grinned from inside Taiki's body. Taiki smiled, remembering Takato's own circumstances. So this is how it feels to merge with a Digimon, huh? Only the human is the base, so I'm more human than data at the moment. To actually merge with a Digimon is an odd feeling. I wonder if this is how Takato always feels when he Matrix Evolves…

Shoutmon interrupted his trail of thought, "He said this was a battle to the death, right? Do we even plan on killing him at all?"

"Let's just hit him once." And with this, Taiki started falling, and he landed directly onto the Valkyrie, burying it into the concrete floor. Guiche did not need eyes to know that the Valkyrie is now completely fallen, and summoned six more.

"You are quite strong, familiar, I'll commend you on that!" Guiche nodded. "But such ability pales in front of a mage."

"Sorry, Guiche, but I can't really hear whatever you are saying because of these headphones!" Taiki called to him, causing Guiche to notice the odd earmuffs he was pointing at.

"Crown…" Tabitha muttered, referring to the symbol on the headphones. But now, Guiche blinked and snarled.

"You'll rue this day, familiar! For not listening to your betters, you shall experience pain beyond your wildest imaginations!" Guiche was now quite angry. Those "headphones" as he called it were like a symbol of rebellion, if it did not allow the wearer to listen to its masters. Guiche sent all six of them to strike down Taiki. But Taiki did another thing that was unexpected. He raised out his left hand, palm facing outward.

"Let's end this, Shoutmon."

"Okay, Taiki!" That was when they noticed an odd stick-like object fall into Taiki's outstretched arm. It was Shoutmon's weapon, a MacField-brand mike, with three long yellow spikes coming out behind the microphone itself. Taiki then noticed something odd. Why… why were the odd scars from yesterday glowing? Huh? How? And… I feel stronger… even faster… Okay, let's do this! The incoming golems rushed over, but Taiki brought the microphone near his lips.

"ROWDY ROCKER!" Taiki cried out, with Shoutmon's voice blending in as well. Taiki's eyes grew feral, as though he lost control on his mind. The microphone started glowing brightly, and Taiki struck down the nearest Golem with one hit. It was broken into pieces, making Taiki rush over, and even more forward. He struck down another, this one flying into the sky and straight into another golem. Both broke spectacularly. And the remaining three? He simply smashed them over, leaving only one left somewhat functional. That was immediately crushed into scrap metal. Taiki's feral eyes turned to Guiche, and now the boy was quivering. It was the first time he was on the wrong end of actual brutality, and now… Taiki rushed over, with his Microphone still glowing brightly.

"I… I YIE-GAH!" Guiche was unable to finish his surrender when Taiki brought the Microphone and smashed it directly into the noble's stomach. And with that, the duel was over. Guiche was on the ground, groaning and nearly crying. The hit most likely broke a few bones, but some healing from a water mage should fix it.

Taiki pulled out his Xros Loader, "Xros Open!" Taiki called out, and the scarf and headphones, along with the microphone, disappeared into the device. Taiki placed the Xros Loader back into the holster, and he leaned down to Guiche, "Hey, are you alright? I made sure to go easy back there, so you shouldn't be too hurt…"

"… Damned commoner… don't pity me!" And with that Guiche stood up, "I haven't lost yet…" Guiche cried out, trying to wave his rose wand, but instantly fell when his balance was compromised.

"Don't do anything!" Taiki caught the noble boy's body. Placing Guiche's arm around his neck, he heaved the boy up. He turned to the audience, "Hey! Does anyone know where to find the infirmary?" Siesta raised her hand and pointed to the direction of the Water Tower. So it was somewhere there? And with that, Taiki dragged the boy with him, as the nobles watched, dumbfounded from what they just saw. "Oh and, Siesta, can you take care of my bag for me, please?" Taiki called to the servant girl. "Don't let anyone touch it, kay?"

"Why…" Taiki turned to the boy he was carrying. "Why are you helping me...? I was the loser! Would it not be your right to just leave me?"

"Like I said, I can't turn my back on people that need my help." Taiki shrugged, walking forward. "And anyway, it was partly my fault that we ended up dueling anyway." Wisemon was the one who wanted to see how magic worked, that's why he accepted the challenge. And Shoutmon wanted to try DigiXros with Taiki, so both of those two wishes were granted by accepting the duel. Taiki couldn't really reject the two's pleas and if it weren't for the two, he would've probably listened to Louise and just apologized. Haha… "… But it was still your fault that the two girls cried though." Taiki told him, with a grin. Guiche looked at Taiki with a rather angry face, unable to resist that jibe. "You really shouldn't lie to people, or you might end up losing all your friends."

"You are powerful, familiar." Guiche sighed, "And you... are you a noble?"

"My name's Taiki, and no, I'm not a noble."

"It wouldn't have hurt to say yes…" Guiche sighed yet again, his pride torn asunder. This kind familiar, treated them with respect, but could thrash him down so quickly, and he even said he was holding back… And he even said that he wasn't a noble! With this kind of strength, he should've at least earned that. Dammit… So Guiche lost to a mere commoner, with no title. No one would be able to resist the jibe. No matter the circumstances, HE, a noble, lost to HIM, a mere commoner... The two wordlessly arrived at the infirmary, and there, Taiki left the boy in the hands of the water mage there.

"Hey, what was your name again, Familiar?"

"Kudou Taiki. Call me Taiki." Guiche nodded, as Taiki walked away. Soon the water mage had arrived and began treatment. It was then when Guiche remembered, what did that crown on Taiki's shirt mean?

* * *

**Principal's Office**

"So that's the strength of the legendary Gandalfr?" Colbert blinked, as he and the principal looked into the seeing mirror that allowed him to see everything that goes around in the campus. "It's even greater than I thought it would be…"

"He's powerful, that's for sure…" The principal nodded, "But… that odd device that the boy holds in his hands… It is quite suspicious. Is it his wand?"

"There is no magic in the boy." Colbert abolished the idea. "And he is not a member of nobility."

"Never claiming to be one, and being one are two very different situations, Goldfish…" The principal nodded.

"It's Colbert, sir."

"OH, ah yes. Colbert, it is then. Now I recognized that there were crown symbols on the boy's clothing. I wonder why he would have such symbols on him?"

"I won't know sir, but to think we would bear witness to the Legendary Gandalfr! It's something we should tell the capital!" Colbert said excitedly.

"No. Professor Colbert. You should know how politics work." The principal admonished the idea. "The moment that people discover that the legendary Gandalfr is here, what would they do? Won't they simply drag him to war? To solve petty conflicts?"

"Oh… of course." Colbert sighed, noticing the flaw. "To think the ultimate wielder of weapons, the left hand of God, would be used as such is appalling but…"

"It's the sad truth of politics. That's why we need to keep this a secret. Do not tell a soul, Colbert the Flame Snake." And with that, Colbert bowed and walked out and away from the room.

* * *

**Back at the Vestri Court**

Louise impatiently waited for Taiki to return. Admittedly, she was impressed by how he fought against Gramont, but… Why did he suddenly show kindness afterwards? There was no need to do so… Also, for a commoner like him… how did he do all those stuff? How did he jump so high he practically stayed in the air for a few seconds before landing down, and what did shout mon di ji cross mean? Was it a spell? Also, that crown… what did that crown mean? He pointed it out during the fight, but he didn't tell them directly. She's going to get some answers out of that damned familiar.

Siesta was stuck there as well, as per orders of Louise, who didn't want Siesta taking away her own familiar's bag. Siesta herself was quite confused and was plagued by the same questions as Louise, but she knows for a fact that Taiki was kind. He would always help those who need help, and… That phrase he keeps saying… I can't turn my back. She can't possibly say anything less than praises about the guy. Siesta merely wanted answers. How did Taiki do all that stuff?

**Back to Taiki**

"So I guess this is "goodbye", huh, Shoutmon?"

"Yeah, Taiki. But not for long." Shoutmon shrugged from the screen. "As Digimon King, I can't just leave the Digital World. I need to take care of it now, you know. Especially with a certain rascal causing trouble all the time."

"You would think that Gumdramon would've already given up." Taiki jokingly said, shaking his head. Gumdramon had made successive tries to usurp Shoutmon. Of course, Shoutmon didn't even notice it and just let him be.

"I think being the last Digimon standing against Quartzmon got to his head." Shoutmon replied with a grin. Then his face turned solemn again. "So, Taiki, if you ever need me again, just tell Wisemon, got it? And Wisemon, you better help Taiki get home."

"I will." Wisemon's voice exited from the device. "I just need full cooperation from Taiki though."

"That's just an excuse to make me your lab rat again, huh?"

"Yes, it is." Wisemon nodded.

"So, Bastemon, Knightmon, and Shoutmon are all leaving for now? Well, best of luck! Send my regards to our friends back on Earth."

"Yeah, sure, Taiki. Bye-bye~" Bastemon's voice pretty much told Taiki that she still plans on coming back sooner or later. Her face immediately faded, leaving nothing but a silhouette.

"I shall protect Bastemon with my life, Taiki-dono!" Knightmon nodded, "And the Pawnchessmons with you will still do the same. We shall see each other again, General."

"I'm glad that we got to Digixros and fight together! I'm counting on you to keep the Xros Heart Army together, Taiki." Shoutmon grinned, "Maybe you should start recruiting people. That Guiche seemed pretty handy."

"Don't joke around Shoutmon." Taiki laughed with him.

Then Shoutmon smirked, "The Starmons will still be with you, Taiki. Make full use of them if you need to."

"Not like I can [Digixros] with them properly, without reloading them first." Taiki joked. Well, Starmon's ability involves their bond between him and the Pickmons, and summoning individual Pickmons is even more stressing on the body than summoning Shoutmon. And since Taiki is not a Digimon, by default, he is like a blank slate that needs to be dyed. He simply and literally takes the abilities of the Digimon. So if he ever Digixrosed with Starmon, he would really need to summon all the Pickmons to be effective. "And, anyway, I don't use my partners, Shoutmon. You should know that well. You are all my friends. That's what made us Xros Heart after all."

"Of course! We are Xros Heart! A unity of hearts that changed the Digital World!" Shoutmon raised a thumb up from inside the Xros Loader. "Now, if only the air here is a bit more digital… but oh well. But Taiki, you better come home. This world gives me the creeps."

"I'll definitely come home when everything's over." Taiki nodded. "I still have that Soccer Game that I have to help out at. If I do miss it, please tell them sorry for me!"

"Taiki… You never change! Well, then we'll be seeing you around, Taiki." And with that, Shoutmon's face on the screen faded, and turned black. Taiki continued to smile and walk back to Vestri Court. What awaited him were two extremely curious people.

* * *

**Louise's Room**

Louise had insisted that Taiki come to her room and explain everything. Considering that there were no classes for the day, it should be fine. Siesta was asked by Louise to serve them tea while she was at it. Taiki had no clue what _kind_ of tea this was but he simply nodded and sat down on the chair near the circular table in her room. Louise had sat down directly across him, while Siesta was sitting on the bed to allow her to rest a bit.

Louise took a sip from her tea and said, "Okay, Familiar. Speak. What just happened there?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Taiki asked. What Taiki really meant was that many things happened there, and it would be best if she was clearer. Well Louise was never known for being able to get the hint so easily.

"Don't play dumb!" Louise scowled. "What was that Shout Mon Di Ji Cross?"

"Oh, huh? I suppose I could tell you that… It's basically me using Digixros with Shoutmon."

"Shoutmon, who's that?" Louise asked.

"He's my comrade and partner." Taiki honestly told her.

"What do you mean by that?" Louise scowled slightly. "I don't get it! How did you summon an oddly shaped mace during the battle? It's not magic, since you obviously weren't casting spells. And you didn't even use a wand!"

"… Louise." Taiki sighed. "You need to learn to be a bit more open-minded. If you close off all the possibilities without even trying them, won't you just be destined to fail?" Taiki wasn't sure why Louise was so against the idea.

"Shut up, Familiar, and tell me!" Louise told him. It seemed Louise is finally used to being referred to without a proper title. Or maybe she just couldn't be brought to notice this tiny detail.

"Basically…" Taiki shrugged and pulled out his X Loader, "This gives me the ability to merge two different people, as long as they're digital. That's Digixros."

"Wha?... I don't get it! Digital? Digixros? Don't speak in riddles!" Taiki sighed once more.

"Uh... I don't know how it works but… Wait here…" Taiki said as he ran out the door. Soon he came back with a stick from a nearby tree. "Can you show me your wand?" Louise pulled out her wand. Taiki gestured her to place it on the table next to the branch.

"We have two objects here." Taiki pointed at the wand. "If we look at it at a magical point of view, one is a wand, and the other is a branch." Louise huffed.

"I KNOW THAT!"

"Of course you would know. I said in a Magical Point of View."

"There are others?"

Taiki chose to ignore that in favor of keeping on topic. "Okay, now if we look at it from the point of view of someone who has NEVER seen magic,"

"What kind of backwater person is THAT?" Louise interrupted him.

"Don't interrupt me if you want me to finish…" Taiki told her. Louise sighed and settled in her chair. "Now if it was a person who has NEVER seen magic, he wouldn't see much difference between the two things. He'd just call them both sticks." Louise nodded, muttering something under her breath. Siesta at least seemed to be able to understand the idea.

"Now this is a Digital Point of View… Wisemon, tell me what do you think of the two items?" Taiki asked.

"One is a branch from a nearby tree, cut off very recently." Wisemon's voice emanated from the device. "The other is a stick carved out of wood, with a core of an unknown item that seemed to be capable of channeling with humans call magic."

"Huh? So what does THAT explain?" Louise interrupted. "He said basically the same thing!" That didn't work out too well…

"Not exactly. It's basically: how does the wheel on a carriage work?"

"By rolling around."

"That's the same if you look at it from a Normal's Point of View. But how do you know that? How do you know that a carriage would work like that?"

"Because I saw it?"

"This isn't working well…" Taiki sighed. "I don't know anything about magic, but since there is hardly anything digital in this era, I can't explain properly." Then he decided for a direct approach. He pulled out his Xros Loader. "This device is a Xros Loader. And it doesn't use magic." That seemed to elicit a better response.

"WHAT? NO MAGIC? BUT HOW DID IT WORK? WHY WOULD IT LET YOU MERGE WITH SOMETHING?"

"For now, Louise… Don't mind it." Taiki sighed, "There is NO way I can explain the fact unless you know something about my world. Just don't think too hard on it anymore."

"But I won't understand a thing if you don't tell me." Louise scowled.

"I'm not sure if I can really explain it any better than I just did... but…." He never got to finish that sentence when he finally slumped into a deep sleep on the table, his head resting right next to the cup of tea Siesta put out for him. He has finally been come over by exhaustion. Siesta gasped and immediately rushed nearby to try and help the boy but…

"Do not worry about him." A voice from the Xros Loader called out again. By now, the two girls have already identified it as Wisemon's voice. "He is merely exhausted. I have told him that Digixrossing even one of us to himself would drain him of energy. He'll need a bit more lasting weapon."

"So… Wisemon is one of the partners of Taiki?" Siesta asked.

"Yes, Miss Louise. And he could choose to Digixros himself with me if he so chooses, but there are things that need to be taken care of first. You wish to know about Digimon, I'll tell you." Louise nodded. "However, in exchange for the information, I would like to ask you to tell me every bit of information you can about magic."

Right now, Louise has decided that Taiki may not actually be such a bad familiar after all.

**Chapter End**

* * *

Red Monitamons: Information Gathered by us Monitamons! We're still not as good as our green counterparts, but we'll definitely try! Chronologically speaking, this story is around 3 years later after Xros Hunters, making it four years since the Xros Heart United Army saved the world! That means Taiki is already 17 in this story, like Saito in the original story. So here is our first Enemy Scanning!

Name:  
Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere

Age:  
16

Original World:  
Halkeginia

Elemental Alignment:  
Void  
(She still doesn't know that yet!)

Familiar:  
Originally: Hiraga Saito, Gandalfr + Perverted Commoner  
In this story: Kudou Taiki, Gandalfr + General of Xros Heart Army

Attacks:  
Failed Spells (For now~)

Red Monitamon: This is the number one enemy in this whole story!

Taiki: Eh, why?

Red Monitamon: Louise de la Valliere is the youngest child of the Valliere Family. She has yet to learn her true strength, as her [Failed Spells] can cause as much Friendly Fire as a Nuke! So how'd we do?

Lunar Wave: Better than the green ones. (I used the green ones in another story of mine for this sort of thing. Let's just say I kicked them out already.)

Red Monitamon: By the way, can normal humans in this story Digixros?

Lunar Wave: No. Only Taiki would have the ability. Like was pointed out, he had been turned into data and back a minimum of three times! His body is easier to modify by data, but to use Digixros, he would actually be weaker than the original form. So Taiki + Shoutmon is actually weaker than Reloaded Shoutmon, because Taiki is NOT Data. His body was converted to data, but he himself is not data. That's why Taiki's body had no significant changes on it while Digixrosed with Shoutmon. Taiki is still human while Digixrosed. The only boosts Shoutmon Xrossing with him was Shoutmon's Agility, a bit of his endurance, and the ability to use all of Shoutmon's moves, as well as summon his signature weapon.

Now, why doesn't Taiki just reload Shoutmon? In-Universe it's because if Taiki were to reload Shoutmon, because of the lack of Digital Energy in this world, Taiki would have to use his own energy to fuel Shoutmon's body formation outside the Xros Loader. This energy drain is actually significantly weaker, though Taiki would still use up energy when running up and down and using Digimon Special Attacks.

You must be wondering, would any of the other Generals/Hunters go to this world? Well, if I get the incentive to do so, I'll do the next chapter! Oh and the only reason this was updated so quickly is because A) I'm still on Vacation, B) This part was supposed to be appended to the previous chapter, but I just decided to cut it in half. So Red Monitamon~

Red Monitamon: Review please! Critics are ALWAYS welcome as long as they give a proper explanation why this story is what they say it is~ Lunar Wave usually replies to named reviews, so go all out and ask a few questions if you are confused! Just… be careful of asking anything about future plots, since Lunar Wave has proven to be very Spoilerific! See you next time on **Devourer of Magic, A New Partner!** Welcome to the Xros Heart Army, Derflinger!

Lunar Wave: So we're seriously going to do the Spoilerific Titles like in the real Xros Wars anime huh?


	4. Mysteries! Taiki's Revelations!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

Obligatory Disclaimer: Digimon Xros Wars is not mine, nor is Familiar of Zero.

* * *

**Mysteries! Taiki's Revelations!**

* * *

"It's been a long time… Kudou Taiki." Taiki blinked his eyes open, not sure where the voice is coming from. He found himself floating in a void of well… a void. Taiki wasn't sure which way was supposed to be up or down, and for now presumed that wherever his feet are pointing is down. Taiki searched for the source of the voice when: "Do not try searching, Kudou Taiki. I am not physically there. Nor are you for that matter." Taiki was now able to link the voice to an old friend.

"Is… Is that you, Omegamon?"

"Yes, Kudou Taiki. Though only by voice am I truly there, it is nonetheless I."

"… You're not Taichi and Yamato's Omegamon? You're the Legendary Hero from the Digimemory, right?"

"In a way, both Omegamon are Legendary Heroes, Kudou Taiki. But yes, it is I."

"Is there something you need from me, Omegamon?" Taiki questioned the Royal Knight.

"Quite so, Kudou Taiki. You are not in immediate need in the Digital World though. You are in need in that area, in that world in itself."

"Wait… There's something I need to do in this world? I wasn't just summoned here because I was designated as the partner of Louise?"

"For now, Kudou Taiki, I cannot answer all your questions. No, there is too little time for that. My connection to this world is very slowly, but surely, waning." Taiki nodded.

"Kudou Taiki, collect the Code Crowns."

"Wha? Collect the Code Crowns? Here? But there shouldn't be any Code Crowns in this world! Omegamon? Omegamon!"

"I hope the Xros Loader will guide you on your path, Xros Heart's General."

**Dream Sequence End**

* * *

"Uwah!" Taiki gasped, catching for breath. Upon waking up, he realized that he was nowhere he was actually familiar with. But one look, he could tell that he was on a bed, in a bedroom. With candlelight lighting up the whole place. He grabbed his Xros Loader from its holster, noting that it was still there. Well, wherever he was, it didn't seem pretty good. Upon turning to his side, he could see Kirche. She was currently petting Flame as much as she could.

"Nice job, Flame." Kirche cooed as she tickled the Salamander's belly. Kirche turned around and spotted Taiki. "Oh my, our guest is already awake." Yeah, that was definitely what she said. Lustily too. Taiki sweated a bit as he watched the uncomfortable scene.

Taiki stood up a bit and tried a question. "… Uh… what am I doing here?" Taiki gulped a bit.

"I asked little Flame here to bring you to me, Mikey-darling~" Taiki winced. What she called him evolved… This is bad…

"So, do you want to stick around?" Zerbst grinned. "You're quite the hottie, being able to defeat a mage with a rather impressive trick~ I'm amazed, Mikey-darling~"

"Okay… This is getting worse by the second. I need to go." Taiki said, standing up.

"Let's do this then~" Kirche smiled, looking like a cat ready to pounce.

'She's acting like Bastemon… Only worse. She's Bastemon on heat or something…' Taiki said, as he dodged the first attempt.

"It's so fun while you're playing hard to get." Kirche grinned. And cue a certain voice from the hallway:

"ZERBST! LAY YOUR HANDS OFF MY FAMILIAR!" Both turned around to spot a certain pink-haired shorty with an attitude.

"My, my… That's a bit of a shame…"

Taiki looked around, as the two started bantering at each other yet again. This is the 16th time this week. Taiki shook his head and closed all channels of thought. He walked past the two and tried to move out. Louise seems to have spotted him going away and raced after him. Grabbing his arm, Taiki soon found himself once more in Louise's Room.

When Taiki thought about it, it's been over a week since Taiki had arrived in Halkeginia, but he really spent most of that time sleeping. The news that he defeated Guiche already died a rumor among the nobles, as no one really believed that a commoner could defeat a noble, and thought of it as a fluke.

"Oy, Familiar. Explain why you were at Zerbst's Room when I found you." Louise drily said, snapping Taiki back to the present.

"Huh?" Taiki blinked, confused. "That happened?" Taiki seems to have literally erased that experience from his head.

"You were AWAKE! You should DEFINITELY know!" Louise growled. "Explain, Taiki!"

Taiki pondered on the matter, not truly sure on how this works. "Uh… I was supposed to be sleeping outside… Don't know why I was there instead…" Taiki shrugged, pulling off his extra shirts. Today, he was again wearing his crown shirt, and no one really intended on asking about it anymore, as it was well… no one really wanted to figure it out. Louise at least tried that question, but Wisemon told her that that was a secret for some reason. Taiki's not sure why.

Speaking of Louise… she looked steamed, glaring at Taiki, "And WHY are you sleeping OUTSIDE, AGAIN? I told you to sleep inside my room, right?"

"Umm… Louise, it's quite improper if a male sleeps in the same room as a girl…" Taiki replied, with a slight blush of embarrassment on his face. "And, I like sleeping outside. It's much better than sleeping on a haystack." Well, that's one reason. The other reason is to help out Siesta with her work. No matter how much Siesta complained about it, he still did it like an obligation. Well, he helped out the kitchens if Siesta insisted on not letting him do her work.

"You damned FAMILIAR! You are SUPPOSED to stay by my side at ALL times." Taiki sweated a bit. Louise grumbled something about riding crops.

"Please don't hurt me." Taiki sighed. Taiki sighed. Louise is quite the most bothersome individual Taiki ever met, worse than the disguised Splashmon. Why is Louise up this late in the night anyway…? Then he remembered. "I suppose the reason you're awake is…"

"Yeah, that promise, Taiki." Louise nodded. Taiki nodded. That promise huh…

* * *

**Outdoors, Tower of Water**

Taiki and Louise walked across the grass and towards the Tower of Water, where they could see a human figure. Siesta was waiting in her commoner's clothes, having put away her maid's clothes for the night. Why were Siesta, Louise, and Taiki convening here? It was because of a promise.

"Okay, so I suppose… Today, I think I'll have enough strength to do it huh…" Taiki stretched out his arms. "Well, better start small though. Okay, [Pickmonz, RELOAD]!" A veritable army of small triangle shaped monsters spawned out from the Xros Loader. Among them are a bunch of White Pickmon and the rest are Silver Pickmonz.

"Ah~ so cute~" Siesta squealed a bit, as she grabbed a white Pickmon that showed up, not really worried about Louise's presence. As far as she was concerned, with Taiki around, she wouldn't really get reprimanded by Louise. Louise herself seems confused.

"These are your familiars?" Louise asked impatiently. "Why don't you summon Wisemon or something? You settled for these little things?"

"I'm still taking it slowly, Louise…" Taiki shrugged, as he put back the Xros Loader. "If I [Reload] something beyond my level… Won't I just end up fainting?" Louise begrudgingly nodded.

Yes, the promise Taiki made to Louise (and by extension, Siesta) was that he would show them one of the Digimon to them. And by showing, he must [Reload] them. This was the arrangement Louise made with Wisemon so that Louise would tell them all about Magic. And they sort of lucked out since Louise was one of the top students in regards to her academic knowledge. The only real reason why she is seen as an utter failure is her practical abilities.

"So… this was rather anti-climactic…" Louise sighed, stretching up. "What do these guys do?" She pointed at the group.

Taiki shrugged and pointed at the Silver Pickmon. "The Silver Pickmons are the soldiers of Starmon. Who Starmon is, I'll show at a later date. They are basically that same Starmon's Army. The general goal of every Silver Pickmon is to one day become a Starmon himself. And to do that, they need to follow Starmon's orders. If the Pickmons don't follow Starmon… they lose the right to evolve." Taiki explained.

"That sounds rather brutal…" Siesta looked sympathetic at the Pickmons, who Taiki was now returning to his Digivice. "So, Taiki, what about this one?" Siesta lifted one of the White Pickmon.

"Ah… the white Pickmon… They're pretty much the Commoner Equivalent of the Silver Pickmon." Taiki replied. Siesta looked somewhat confused.

"So there's nothing special about them, huh?" Louise shrugged. She sighed, "What was I getting so hyped up about?" And with that she returned to the dorm.

"I'm still amazed on how the so-called nobles could link the word commoner to being nothing special…" Wisemon's voice mocked the girl behind her back. Taiki didn't understand why Wisemon was acting like this regarding the matter. It must've been something during the explanation Taiki skipped out on by fainting. It looks like even Wisemon couldn't take how close-minded the girl was with the world. Wisemon even compared it to a stuck-up Religious Freak who impedes the path of science and logic. Taiki refrained from commenting on that.

Now only Siesta remained behind.

"So… is there something only the white Pickmon can do?" Siesta asked.

Taiki pondered on that, "Well… they do have one important trait…" Taiki then nodded to White Pickmon. The Pickmon immediately coughed out a few more Digimon. This sudden multiplication caused Siesta to slightly panic, but it did not do much in the long run. Soon she was gushing over them like she did the White Pickmon.

"These are the Chibickmons." Taiki smiled. "They are basically even younger form of Pickmon."

"So they're this little one's little kids!" Siesta exclaimed, wary of any more surprises.

"The Chibickmon are weaker than normal Pickmons. However, the "mother", I suppose, is able to know the location of every Chibickmon… So they're quite useful for scouting." Taiki nodded. "Not really for fighting though, but that's fine."

"Eh… That's quite cool~" Siesta smiled, holding the little one on her arms tightly. Taiki smiled at the scene.

"Neh… Taiki…" Taiki turned to Siesta, whose smile is fading a bit. "I, uh… Goodbye, Taiki…"

"Ah. Alright, Goodnight, Siesta." And with that, Siesta turned around and went back to the servants' quarters. Taiki walked away from the area, towards the spot that he dubbed as "Temp Bed until he can find a better one." and walked over to lie down on it. Looks like he's sleeping out.

* * *

**Louise's Room**

"What's wrong with that damn familiar…?" Louise grumbled. "He does a familiar summoning, and he summons his weakest one." Louise huffs. Louise sighs as she noticed that the familiar wasn't coming to her room today as well. And she needed to give him a few orders today as well… She looked at the pile of dirty clothes that she kept in a nearby basket, to be collected by the laundry maids. Well, that's one thing Louise has given up on forcing him to do.

What was Taiki? What did that crown marking on his shirt mean? These questions were still unanswered, as Wisemon had refrained from telling them the answer, calling it a secret. All that Wisemon told her was the difference between the Magical and the Digital, and how exactly Taiki fights. Apparently, he summons monsters as aides in his battles, but he himself doesn't stand back and watch the fight. Apparently, Taiki can [DigiXros] himself with a monster and become stronger than normal humans.

Louise sighed, looking out her window to see her familiar collapse on the spot. At least the boy was trying to remain in sight.

"He looks tired… If summoning that little thing was his limit, he'll need a better weapon. Maybe… I'll bring him to town tomorrow. Tomorrow's the day of the Void after all…"

* * *

**Siesta's Room**

Siesta stood next to her bed with a saddened face. "In the end… I couldn't tell him, huh?" Siesta sighed. "That… tomorrow, I would be… permanently saying goodbye… Maybe I should tell him… but… no… Considering his personality would probably get him into trouble…" Siesta sighed. She looked towards her bedside, where a bag was laid open, ready to be filled with contents.

"Count Mott's Estate huh… I always expected something like this to happen… but… I didn't think it would be such a person…" Siesta grimaced, as Count Mott, the one who took her in, insisted that she come with him. This was far from the storybooks she had once read. If only a prince would really save her from her troubles… So that she would no longer be a bother to anyone, not even Taiki, who became a very important part of her life.

"… Goodbye…"

* * *

**The Next Day**

"Good morning, Our Rock!"

Taiki woke to this most unusual greeting, and found himself face-to-face with a merry cook. This was Marteau, the head chef of Tristain Academy of Magic. Well, we already met him before, but this was the first time we truly saw him as lively as this.

"G'morning, Marteau." Taiki replied, with a grin plastered on his face.

"Why don't you join us for breakfast, Our Rock?"

"That's okay with me." Taiki nodded gratefully. Taiki had already given up trying to get a proper meal out of Louise. No matter how humane Louise claims to treat him, she still unconsciously treats him like a dog. Taiki grinned and brushed off some dirt on his shirt. Apparently, he fell asleep without even an extra piece of clothing on him. Taiki looked at the sky to see that the sun had barely even risen, as the sky was dyed violet. Taiki picked up his bag and walked over with the chef.

Oh, and why he calls Taiki "Our Rock"? Apparently, Taiki's [Rowdy **Rock**er] during the duel actually earned him that title. After all, Taiki just clobbered a mage in a duel. Many of the commoners in the academy now see him as a hero. Add this to his naturally kind-hearted personality, some commoners believe he is no ordinary commoner.

"So is there any truth to that thought?"

"Hmm…?" Taiki asked in between mouthfuls. Taiki ate through the food without hesitating.

"Because of that crown on your shirt, many of my fellows in this academy believe that you are actually a king in the guise of a commoner."

"No, no way." Taiki grinned as he drank from the nearby cup. Taiki turned and saw Siesta, in normal clothes. This confused Taiki for a bit but he simply shrugged it off and grinned, "Good morning, Siesta."

"Good morning, Taiki." Siesta nodded. Marteau seems to have turned more solemn than normal.

One by one, other servants arrived at the kitchen, to find the scene. Taiki sighed, looking confused at the whole thing and decided to just clear out the question.

"At any rate, Marteau, I'm not a king." Taiki shrugged. "But my best friend is one." No one knows what came over Taiki to mention this fact, but he just did.

"Your best friend?" Everyone opened their mouths in awe.

"My partner, Shoutmon." Taiki laughed. "I mentioned him during the fight last week."

"But you say you are not a noble…" Another chef mentioned.

"I'm not." Taiki nodded. "I wasn't to begin with."

"But how did you become friends with a king, if you are a mere commoner?" A nearby maid asked. Taiki thought on the matter.

"Well, when I met Shoutmon, he wasn't king." Taiki then grinned. "In a way, I suppose you could say that I helped Shoutmon to become King."

"You did?" A cook gasped. "So you are…"

"Shoutmon's dream was to make everyone in his world smile. He doesn't try to get in the way of other's lives. Shoutmon's only wish is to protect those who live in his world. After all, the enemy, Bagramon… he was the enemy we faced…"

"Who is this Bagramon?"

"I suppose you could say he is the past king." Taiki shrugged.

"So in a way, Taiki you are…"

"That's right." Taiki nodded. "I guess I'm a leader of a resistance army, and our aim is to make Shoutmon our king. By making Shoutmon our king, we got our objective. To Restore Peace and Justice in the Digital World, and to protect its inhabitants." Taiki smiled, "This crown on my shirt… It doesn't mean I'm a king. In the end, what it means is that I was the one who brought the king to his current position. I was the one who brought the world together to fight against all the evil Bagramon did."

"You say Resistance Army… Do you mean you are a rebel?" Quiet filled the room, allowing this to sink in. A rebel army leader, who actually succeeded, is now sitting with them, eating their food, happily helping them with their tasks, and continually smiling without worries. No one knew whether they should be scared or happy. A boy who overthrew a current government without worrying about the consequences.

"Not really, more like someone who is trying to stop the evil king from taking over the whole land." Taiki grinned. "It's kind of like when the King says: I'm taking your family's land and home, and you will be our slaves. A Resistance Army would say: We'll fight for the land we lived in for a long time, and we will die with our land."

"So your resistance was successful, I take it?" When Taiki nodded, Marteau grinned like there's no tomorrow. "You… You truly are the best of all commoners in the world, Taiki. Hah… if only we lived in your world."

"I'll say this much. I don't want to start a rebellion here, in Halkeginia." Taiki told them immediately. "After all, this world… It doesn't seem as bad as Shoutmon's during the Xros Wars."

"The Xros Wars… Is that…"

"That's right. The Xros Wars is what the battle between the Resistance Army of Xros Heart and the Bagra Army was called." Taiki nodded. "There, people suffered, Marteau. You are actually quite fortunate compared to them. The residents of Lake Zone… They were frozen by the Bagra Army as they tried to conquer the area." Everyone was shocked. Frozen? Taiki noticed their faces and nodded, "It was when we of the Xros Heart Army appeared that we claimed the land under Shoutmon."

"Conquering the world." Siesta blinked. "You mean…"

"That's right. We took over the world. Xros Heart did. But we didn't force them to be part of our armies. We didn't force anyone to fight for us. The fight was us of the Resistance only. That's why…"

"King Shoutmon was accepted splendidly." Marteau nodded. "Shoutmon is the current king…"

"He may be king but… His priority is to keep the peace. He would not interfere with the daily lives of the Digimon. That's just how he is."

"A true noble, this King Shoutmon is. And you are his foremost partner. You are the most noble of all commoners." Marteau laughed. "Let me kiss you, Our Rock!"

Taiki was understandably not pleased. "NO THANKS!" Then a maid walked in the room.

"Umm… Sir Taiki…"

"Taiki is fine." Taiki waved off the title.

"Right. Taiki, Miss Valliere is searching for you." Taiki blinked, looking out the window. The sun hasn't risen completely yet. She was already looking for him? Taiki gobbled up the food on his plate. He stood up and left the table in a hurry. Siesta looked as he retreated away.

Marteau approached the maid. "You didn't tell him."

"Unfortunately, not." Siesta nodded. "But I suppose that's for the best. I don't want to needlessly trouble him. I think he went through enough fighting, don't you think?"

"To truly succeed in conquering the world to bring peace… That is truly an amazing feat…"

"… My only question that is left… why did he fight?"

"I don't know. I really don't." Marteau shrugged. "But that's why he's different. He's not like normal commoners. He's strong, like many nobles. But he has the air of comfort and welcome, a sense of empathy and compassion, very unlike nobles."

"A human with the talent of the gods, a boy bearing the brightest of minds, a leader with the biggest of hearts: that is Kudou Taiki." Siesta said softly, reciting what Wisemon had once told her. "He sounds too perfect if you think about it… If only…"

"You're right… But… Isn't it that those who appear to be the most perfect are the ones with the biggest of flaws?" Marteau asked. "I have yet to see a true fault in Our Rock."

"… I don't know myself." Siesta shook her head. "But that is more than enough reason to not involve him in my problem." Marteau nodded, as Siesta lifted her bag and walked out the door.

* * *

**Chapter End**

* * *

Red Monitamon: Liar.

Taiki: Liar

Louise: Liar

LW: **Devourer of Magic, A New Partner! **is the NEXT Chapter, okay! Give me a break... Just do a Sakuteki and be done with it…

Red Monitamon: Sigh… Okay! Scouting for Enemy Data!

Name:  
Kudou Taiki

Age:  
currently 17

Original World:  
Earth

Current Partners:  
Pickmonz [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET]  
[SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET]

Abilities:  
[SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET] [SECRET]  
Gandalfr

Taiki: You're kidding me… I don't have THAT many abilities! And why are all my partners hidden?

Red Monitamon: We got that from LW.

Taiki: … He didn't even show Shoutmon and the others!

LW: Whatever. The Number of [SECRET]s does not mean Taiki has that many. Even THAT is secret.

Red Monitamon: BTW, this chapter seems to focus on the fact that Taiki is a bit of a Gary Stu, huh?

LW: *Nods*

Taiki: I don't think many really likes [Gary Stu]s in their stories…

LW: *Shrug* I know that. But I'll tell this much. I'm not allowing any character remain a complete Mary Sue/ Gary Stu!

Taiki: So why did you change at the last minute? The Title I mean.

LW: I felt like it. So, for those who read this, I really appreciate your time. If you could spare a bit more, please Review. I'm not asking you to NOT hate this story, but if you want to review on how bad it is, please tell me what I made errors on! Thank you~


	5. Devourer of Magic, a New Partner!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

I surely hope no one tries to sue me for this story, because this is a FANfiction. Whatever I write won't affect the real stories. And if anything, I won't be affecting their popularity either.

Also, I'm in search of a beta reader for this story… One who knows enough of Familiar of Zero. Because there might be times that I misinterpret the characters. If they know how the timeline goes as well, that would be yay! It's okay if the beta reader doesn't know enough of Xros Wars. I can handle that~ So at any rate, on with the story!

* * *

**Devourer of Magic, a New Partner**

* * *

One early morning in the Tristain Academy for Magic, a certain Familiar was walking across fields, where his Master was supposed to be awaiting him at the stables.

"I wonder what Louise wants this early…" was what he said. Well, that's hardly without reason though. This was the one day that Taiki was pretty sure corresponded to a Sunday. No school. Louise shouldn't need to wake up so early. Taiki sighed as he walked. "Now where were the stables again?" Taiki looked around, found a spot that seemed to lead to his destination and started walking again.

Taiki then stopped. "Somehow… it's too peaceful… It's almost like something is about to… AGH!"

In an instant, Taiki was crushed underneath a blue blur of boundless bouts of energy. Let me introduce you to a new character of our story. Well, not particularly new since… we already saw her on the first chapter. The said character is Sylphid, a blue dragon who was currently licking Taiki all over the place.

"Sylphid, stop! I say stop!" Taiki cried out, laughing all the while, as he was barraged with the rough tongue of the reptile. Soon, the blue dragon finally stopped and allowed Taiki to stand up, a bit woozy.

"Sylphid… stop doing that." Apparently, Taiki had been under fire by Sylphid the whole time that he's been in Halkeginia. He had been rather close to the other familiars and he was quite grateful for that, but this was a rather difficult problem as Sylphid was QUITE heavy… Okay, she's REALLY heavy.

"Kyuu!" Sylphid purrs as she rubs her head on the boy. Taiki laughed again.

"Hey, Sylphid. where's Tabitha?"

Sylphid points towards the general direction of the dormitories. Taiki nodded. "So she's staying in today?" Sylphid nodded sadly. Taiki smiled, "You must be bored."

"Kyuu…"

"Well, I'm a familiar too, and we can't help if our masters do not want to do the things we want to." Taiki patted the dragon's head, making the dragon purr even more. "On that note, my master was calling me so if you would excuse me." Taiki smiled and walked away, leaving Sylphid behind. Sylphid sighed and started flying around again. She didn't really know what to do next considering that her master wanted to rest today. "I wish Big Sis would fly with me today…" Was what Sylphid thought in her head. Well, her wish was about to be granted, as a horse carrying a master and familiar galloped out of the school, and a certain redhead happened to spot them.

* * *

**On the Horse**

* * *

"Horse-riding is not all that different from Dorulumon…" Taiki remarked as he sat behind Louise, who was controlling the reins. "Well, except for the part that Dorulumon doesn't need reins."

"Shut up, familiar." Louise scolded him. "You are being too loud."

With that, Taiki promptly shut up and took in the scenery instead. He knew better than to piss off the driver of a horse. "I would like to learn how to ride a horse though… It might be useful." Okay… looks like he didn't shut up, but Louise was quite fine with those two sentences. In fact, the moment Taiki said that, Louise had stopped the horse and got off.

"Okay, it looks like you finally understand your role as my familiar." Louise told him, "I'll teach you how to ride a horse, and you will be handling it for the rest of the ride." Taiki grinned and nodded, pulling out a pair of gloves from his pocket and putting it on. And with that, Louise started the instruction.

* * *

**A Few Hours After**

* * *

"As expected of my familiar…"

"Yes, Louise?"

"To think that you'd be able to learn how to ride a horse merely by hearing the explanation once, I think you are quite worthy of your title as _General_…" Taiki only shrugged in response as he continued to guide the horse. And… oh, is that a city?

"At any rate, congratulations. You successfully brought us to the city." Louise smiled happily. She finally had some control over her rather unpredictable familiar.

"Whew…" Taiki sighed, jumping off the horse. "That was quite tiring… it was a three hour trip from school to here… I wonder how difficult the groceries are for Marteau and the rest…" Taiki thought on that and shrugged, planning on asking that afterwards.

The two walked noiselessly through the area, with Taiki not even bothering on commenting on anything, holding the sack of gold coins carefully between his hands. It was a rather huge amount, as he nearly had to drag it around himself.

"That's pretty heavy, eh, Taiki?" Shoutmon's voice called out.

The two would finally arrive at the destined location, the arms dealer's shop. The moment Louise noticed this, she briskly marched in.

There was no one in the shop that time besides the merchant and said merchant was very eager to see a customer, especially since the customer had a cape on her back. He needn't pay attention to the other kid who looked like a commoner in every way… save for the crown on his shirt. Huh? What was a crown doing on that boy's shirt?

"Excuse me. I don't know much about weapons, so bring me the best sword you have." The moment Taiki heard this, he knew it spelt trouble. And now, Louise was being bombarded by the "best" swords in the area. Louise had enough money to buy any of them, of course, but…

"Taiki, you decide, which one do you prefer?" Louise asked the boy.

"Actually… those look pretty expensive…" Taiki concluded, grasping a nearby sword that was offered. It was a metal sword with a golden hilt, with multiple gems inscribed in its hilt. He pulled it up, but nothing happened. Swinging a few times, nothing happened. And with that, Taiki put it down. He did this for all the blades and nothing went well. "No good. Louise, these swords aren't made to be weapons."

"Hey! Don't slander my name!" The arms dealer shouted and growled. "Of course they are weapons! They're swords aren't they?" Taiki pulled out his Xros Loader at that and pointed the device towards the blades. Wisemon's voice burst out from the device as soon as it did so.

"… I would have to guess that these are merely swords made for the sake of decoration, which is why your familiar markings weren't working on it…" At this, Louise was most assuredly confused.

"Huh? What about my familiar's seal?" Louise asked the red microphone. The arms dealer simply recoiled backwards.

"You'll understand. However, what does matter at the moment, these blades wouldn't stand a chance in a real battle. We're looking for a blade that would be able to hold its weight against, say, Knightmon or something?"

"Ch, I bet you're just dirt poor and you can't buy any of my beauties." The arms dealer huffed, turning back to the one who does look somewhat rich, with the coin bag dangling on her hand. "Surely you understand that a good sword like this is very difficult to come by. My swords are prime items!"

"Hey, dude, ya should just give up, eh? These people know what they're looking for. Let them decide!"

At this sudden voice, the arms dealer sweatdropped and rushed to the other end of the room and turned to a sword in its sheath. Its rain guard was flapping as it continued to speak.

"Hey kid, you should probably look a bit further than those crap he calls his best swords. If anything, it's just his most expensive."

"You'll have to shut up, you stupid sword. Oh Brimir, what have I done to deserve this…" The arms dealer groaned. Today just wasn't his day, was it?

"Don't invoke the Founder for your own mistakes." Louise scolded the arms dealer. "From what I can tell, you were offering me stuff that is useless, weren't you? Hah, it's a good thing my familiar was here to expose your game! We're leaving, Taiki."

"Not yet. I'll be testing that sword." Taiki told her. "Wisemon seems really curious about it, and since the shopkeeper seems to be angry about this sword, we would be relieving him of at least one burden, right?" He smiled towards the shopkeeper. However, the shopkeeper thought of the smile as a very, very dangerous one.

"You have a fine eye, kid! I like you! Go ahead, take me. Anywhere is better than this dump."

"Haha, first thing's first." Taiki then grabbed the talking sword in his hand. Taiki then faced another direction and closed his eyes. Louise looked a bit expectantly, and finally saw an odd light from underneath his gloved hands. Taiki opened his eyes and saw the same thing. He placed the sentient weapon on the table. "Yup, this one's good. How much for this?"

At that instant, the arms dealer started calculating a few details. This boy was able to discern what was made to be a weapon or not, and he had just tried out all the swords that he usually pawns off to the gullible masses, claiming of their strength. Now that he knows that those aren't weapons… he might go and tell everyone on the streets to avoid his shop. Or worse, he might even tell on him to the guards about his tricks… He'll be screwed! He should go cheap… no… he can get rid of the sword that was driving off so many of his customers with this as well! Free… yes, that's right, he should just give it for free.

"Oh please, please, just take it." The man rubbed his hands and hoped for the best. He grabbed the weapon and passed it over to Taiki."Just don't tell people about what I tried to do to you~" Taiki looked at the man, confused.

"Are you sure about that? For Free? I can just take it?"

"Yes, yes!" The man went around the counter and put the scabbard's belt and wrapped it around Taiki's body. "There you go, perfect fit, right? Now run along, thank you for your time~" He then pushed the boy out the door. Louise immediately followed, not knowing what just happened.

"Hey, Taiki, is this alright? Getting a rusty sword out of all that? I could've bought you anything there if you wanted…"

"I am very grateful, Louise. You taught me how to ride a horse after all. You also brought me to the city, helping me. What I got is more than enough." Taiki laughed, pulling out the sword.

"Hoo boy, I'm finally out of that stuffy place." Taiki heard a voice from his back. "So, kid, your grip back there was superb! I take it that you're a swordsman?"

"Not really. I happened to join a kendo tournament around 4 years ago, and so I'm pretty okay with a sword, I guess." Taiki shrugged. "At any rate, do you have a name?"

"People call me the almighty Derflinger! And what is my latest partner's name, eh?"

"Taiki. Kudou Taiki."

"Very well then, Taiki, I recognize you as my partner. Let's work well together, aight!?"

"Thank you, Derf." Taiki nodded, "Oh, and welcome to Xros Heart. I'll introduce you to the rest of the army later." At this, Louise's just shrugged. She heard about Taiki's military position from Wisemon, but she could hardly believe that this child is a general. Taiki was still a commoner, no matter how you look at him. Her respect for the boy has risen considerably, that she now considers him a worthy familiar, but she can't believe that this guy is effective as a general.

"Ooh, an army? Did you say you're in an army?" Derf cackled.

"The general of the Xros Heart. Would you like to be part of it?"

"Hey, partner, I'm already your partner. That makes me part of the Xros Heart whether I like it or not! And I most certainly like it!" And at that, Taiki and Derf laughed loudly as they walked down the bustling streets. Then a blue blur assaulted Taiki, causing him to land on his backside once again as the blue blur of energy has reappeared. Sylphid kyuued every single second as she licked the boy's face with apparent glee.

"Hey, what's Tabitha's dragon doing here?" Louise cried out, running over and pulling the boy away from the clutches of the blue dragon.

"Oh my, my, this is a rare sight! What are you doing here, Valliere."

"… Zerbst." Taiki immediately sighed as he, yet again, saw the two people who never seem to get along together in one area. Right behind her was Tabitha, who immediately called the dragon over o her side. Tabitha looked disinterested and went back to reading her book.

"Oh, you bought a sword for little Mikey? Is that supposed to be a gift, Valliere?" Kirche sneered, "How awful. Are you broke or something, Valliere? You couldn't even buy the boy a decent sword! Hahahaha!" Kirche laughed as Louise glared daggers at her.

"That sword was especially chosen by Taiki. So you shut up with your Mikey business. And also, his name is TAIKI."

"Let's go, Louise. It's getting rather late. You said you wanted to get back to the Academy before lunch." Taiki hissed at her ear. Louise turned and nodded, walking away from the evil influence known as Kirche and walked away proud and almighty.

"At least your master has some pride in you, eh?" Derflinger suddenly talked from the scabbard.

Taiki was definitely intrigued at his knowledge, "How'd you know that I'm a familiar?"

"Because… I don't know really… Call it a gut instinct."

[You don't have any] was the collective thought on the matter by everyone in Xros Heart.

And with a laugh, Taiki followed after his petit master. Little did he know that by the time he gets back, something had happened that he still had no clue of.

* * *

**A Carriage Somewhere**

* * *

Siesta looks out the window of the carriage she was riding upon. Count Mott had not spoken in the whole time and she was somewhat grateful for that. That means she has more time to think upon her own matters.

'Why… Why do I feel so sad from being away from the Academy…' Siesta thought to herself. 'I didn't have that many fond memories there… except maybe the times I spent with the staff… But that should've been fine. So why…'

"Stop crying, commoner. It makes me feel bad." Count Mott told her. "I would not like to have my latest servant to be such a crybaby."

"Ah, of course, excuse me…" Siesta wiped off the tears from her eyes. '… If Taiki was here, he would've most likely asked me why I was crying… Wait, why am I thinking about Taiki at a time like this? Is it like in the novels I've read? Could it be… I've… fallen in love with Taiki? Is it possible… I… don't know anymore…'

And with that Siesta simply shook her head and decided that not thinking about Taiki would be her best thought on the whole detail. Never mind the man just across the carriage. Never mind the emotions that she had still in her heart. Never mind the memories she spent with everyone.

* * *

**Chapter End**

* * *

Louise: What a short chapter, idiot. You should really do better.

LW: This seemed to be the best place to stop it. And 2500 words is sort of my norm to begin with. The 4000 word chapters beforehand do not mean a thing. It's simply because I couldn't stop writing there. And Monitamon, do your thing.

Red Monitamon: Scouting for Enemy Data!

* * *

Name:  
Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst

Age:  
18

Original World:  
Halkeginia

Elemental Alignment:  
Fire

Familiar:  
Flame, the Fire Salamander

* * *

Red Monitamon: And another!

* * *

Name:  
Kudou Taiki

Age:  
currently 17

Original World:  
Earth

Current Partners:  
Shoutmon, Starmon, White Pickmonz, Silver Pickmonz,  
Wisemon, Lillymon, PawnChessmonz, Knightmon, Bastemon,  
Pinochimon, Jijimon, ChibiKamemon, Red Monitamonz,  
Dondokomon, Derflinger

Abilities:  
DigiXros, Reload, Code Crown Collection,  
Instant Mastery of Skills, Map Creation,  
[SECRET] [SECRET]  
Gandalfr

* * *

LW: Here's an update on Taiki's Partners and Abilities. Feel free to tell me in the comments who wasn't mentioned!

Taiki: AH, some of the Secrets have revealed themselves! But… There's still more secret abilities? And those abilities relate to the Xros Loader! Except Gandalfr and Instant Mastery of Skills… wait, Instant Mastery of Skills?

LW: That's referring your ability to be an instant master at anything you do.

Taiki: That's just a fluke, don't mind it…

LW: At any rate, next chapter would be: **Give Back our Comrade! Siesta's Rescue Mission! **Reviews are much, much appreciated!


	6. Give Back our Comrade!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

**Give Back our Comrade! Siesta's Rescue Mission!**

* * *

**Halkeginia: Tristain Academy of Magic: Stables**

* * *

The sun has yet to rise today, but there was already a stir in the stables. A boy was messing around with the horses, wanting one to join him. The horse neighed softly, not wishing to wake so early into the day. The boy sighed and walked off to the other end, hoping to find a horse that would respond to his touch. Another horse then walked up to him. Nodding, he started to fix the saddle and the reins on the said horse, only to be spotted by a short girl with pink hair.

"So you're going, huh?" The boy spun around, finding the source. It was his master, as he was her familiar.

"Yeah."

"Why do you care so much about that maid? I mean… you're _my_ familiar." The girl said without raising her voice, only emphasizing her ownership on the boy. Taiki shrugged and finished what he wanted to do. As he finished fixing the saddle, he ignored the girl.

"Hey, talk to me, familiar."

Taiki turned around, after being sure that everything was in its place. "Siesta is my friend." Taiki grinned back. "I just want to make sure I say goodbye properly, right?"

"Is this why you hunted all of yesterday for where Count Mott's place is?"

"Don't worry, little lady." The sword on the boy's back extended out of its sheath. "I'll make sure my partner's safe." Louise shrugged and nodded.

"Be back by tonight, stupid dog. You still got your responsibilities as _my_ familiar. And, oh, don't forget to not do anything stupid when you're there. What you do there will reflect upon me as your master." Louise ordered the boy. And with that, Louise walked towards the dining room, hoping to find at least some manner of food. Taiki looked up at the dawning sun.

"Hottokenai." Taiki muttered softly. Derflinger expressed an expression similar to confusion. What did Taiki mean by that unusual word? Wisemon's face appeared on the Xros Loader and sighed.

'Looks like there were some complications.'

* * *

**Class**

* * *

"Eh, so Mikey-darling rode off to find the maid?" Kirche asked in much dismay. "He chose a commoner over _me_, a noble?"

"Zerbst, you never were a choice for Taiki, and don't go saying you are!" Louise scowled and yelled at her.

"But to think that your familiar abandoned you for a maid, that's just sad, Valliere~" Montmorency told her. "And just when the Evaluation Fair is drawing near. Are you going to be alright?"

"Taiki will come back."

"You've been calling the boy by name for quite a while now. I have to wonder why." Another classmate, this time Gimli, said.

"I've been informed on his position in his land, and thus, I give him as much respect as he deserves." Louise shrugged. And then she added quickly, "For a commoner."

"Oh, he has a special position in his land? Which country does he hail from anyway?"

"Somewhere very far." Louise shrugged. "He's not from Halkeginia… he came from another world entirely."

Quiet instantly followed this reply, but then suddenly a horde of laughter was heard in the whole classroom.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! NICE JOKE!"

"You're just making stuff up now!"

"Another world, Zero? Seriously? Stop making your own familiar seem so special when he's just a commoner."

"Get real, Zero."

No one would believe Louise, but then again, Louise didn't really believe they would either. Why would they? Among them, only Louise had seen proof of Taiki's origins. And even that was still miniscule as Taiki refused to reply about them. Only Wisemon had been willing, until Louise had managed to tick him off as well.

Louise shrugged and nodded. "I don't get how that works either. It sounds false." Everyone was obviously in agreement. Then Louise smirked, "However. He is the General of an Army, so take that." Quiet filled the room. No one was able to comprehend what she just said. A general? A commoner? To their minds, it's like dividing by zero. More laughter would've erupted but they could see the confident look in Louise's face. That means she had something to back that claim up. Which means…

"Eh… EHHHH!? That commoner, a general!? How can that possibly be?"

"I don't know the details either, but he is also the most trusted advisor of the king." Louise dropped yet another bomb among the class's already boggled minds. "And he claims that he is a commoner. I'd say otherwise, but…" An army general plus the King's Most Trusted Advisor equals a Commoner?

"Now you're just grasping at straws, Valliere! There's no way that could possibly be!"

"I left the class for a few minutes and you go ahead and start making noise! And you call yourselves nobles!" The teacher yelled, barging into the room, shutting up the whole class. The others in the class decided that Louise was just bluffing and erased this incident from their heads. Only three people did not: Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche.

"Mikey-darling starts seeming a bit more interesting with every juicy little detail~"

"… I guess… I can live with my loss if he's an actual general… but he said he wasn't a noble… Isn't that a contradiction…?"

"Crown."

* * *

**Somewhere down the road**

* * *

"Hey, Wisemon, while we're going to Siesta's place, can you explain more about this Familiar Rune on my left hand?" Taiki says as he fed the horse some of the hay that was provided to him by Louise if he ever chose to sleep in her room. Well, it's not stealing if it was given to him, right? Taiki had now switched to his Xros Heart shirt, as his crown shirt was kind of sweaty now.

"Ah, yes. Of course. I've been analyzing the rune every night, so I'm pretty confident in my data." Wisemon's reply exited from the Xros Loader he was holding. Taiki took a moment to pat the mare on the head. He then heard a strange hum from the item. This was what Taiki presumed to be one of his two orbs, displaying the data he had been able to collect.

"Now, I've already told you of the basic ability that the familiar rune has, right?"

"The ability to learn how to handle anything that was made as a weapon. This is not limited to items that fit in your hands. It could also refer to fighter planes, warships, and anything else, as long as it was made with the thought of being used as a weapon. Shoutmon's Microphone is a weapon because it was made exclusively for Shoutmon for use as a weapon. He just happens to use it differently most of the time. If it was just another stage microphone, the rune wouldn't have lit. That's about all that you told me."

"Now, there were some extra details that I was able to find out about the runes."

"Go on." Wisemon nodded, and started his lecture.

"The Familiar rune on your left hand Taiki… it also has the ability to link your mind to Louise."

"How?"

"You are able to look into Louise's eye and see what she can see. You can also hear what she can hear."

"So my situation is the opposite of conventional Familiars, huh? If I was a regular familiar, Louise should be able to see what I see instead…"

"Exactly. However… This will only work when the Master is in danger."

"… Interesting… Anything else?" Taiki shrugged as the horse stood up, ready for another run on the path. Taiki opened his Xros Loader's Map function and guided the horse once more. Wisemon simply continued talking.

"When you hold a weapon, you don't simply learn how to handle it. You become stronger, faster, and nimbler than normal, if it was a melee weapon."

"So if I was holding a, for example, gun, it would boost my eyesight, judgment, and strength?"

"Well, whatever it does, it will boost your ability in the use of the weapon itself. However, there's a catch to how powerful this is."

"Oh?"

"It uses Digisoul to prove its strength." Taiki sighed. Ever since Touma had a chat with Wisemon in the last "Hero Reunion", Wisemon had begun calling emotions, "Digisoul." While it makes sense, it gets confusing. Taiki shrugged and smiled.

"So the stronger my emotions; the more powerful my ability is?"

"Yes."

"Anything else?"

"The mark also has the ability to edit your emotions and memories."

Silence followed this sentence, as Taiki slowed down the horse to a slow trot. Taiki turned off the map system and looked at the screen hard.

"… What?"

"Taiki… the Familiar Rune is able to erase your memories."

* * *

**Kirche**

* * *

"To think that Mikey-darling would be away for today." Kirche huffed as she walked through the corridors of the Earth Tower. Once more, she was headed to Chevreuse's class. At the very least, the Red Clay had no longer asked Louise to demonstrate magic for them, and Mikey had shown an interest in helping Louise improve her magic, making everyone question if the familiar can do anything.

Kirche sighed, as she remembered that expensive sword she seduced the weapon's shop dealer to lower the price to get. "Today was supposed to be the day I give it to him too… Well, I can handle a few little mishaps. Hopefully, Mikey-darling won't be too disappointed with the sword." Kirche grinned. "I'll show him who the better master is."

* * *

**Back to Taiki**

* * *

Taiki's mind went into a state of blank. His face is having a difficulty showing which face it should show. Wisemon looked at his face and wondered. Was Taiki angry? If that is so, this might be one of the few times Taiki had ever felt utter anger. Wisemon tried gauging Taiki's vital signs through the Xros Loader. However, Taiki showed no decision on what to make his face into and it remained blank.

"… Taiki, the good news is that I was able to remove the effect… but I had to remove a bit of the translation program that allowed you to speak with Louise properly. This was to circumvent the 'false motive' program in the curse-like mark."

"Wisemon, you're holding something back."

"… This is only temporary. The mark will eventually realize the change in its programming and try to fix itself."

"Can you do something about it?"

"I'm sorry, but this world's connection to the Digital World is not strong enough for that. There is not enough Digital Energy."

"… Well, I guess that can't be helped." Taiki sighed, once more smiling. "We can make do with your treatment for now, Wisemon, but next time, tell me such things a bit earlier…"

"Are you angry at Louise?"

"Nope. Not at all." Taiki looked up at the sky and smiled. "It wasn't her fault. It's the system's fault."

"Taiki… Can I ask you one question? Who are the two humans that were with you during the Xros Wars?"

"… Genji… No... It's Zenjirou. And Akari. Akari and Zenjirou." Taiki sighed, smiling. "I still can't forget them. Wisemon. Make sure to ask me every day about that. I'll make sure to remember. Everything. I won't give up to this."

The horse he was riding on then neighed, as Taiki finally spotted an odd manor.

"Taiki, let's get back Siesta eh?" Shoutmon's voice suddenly echoed. "I'm not afraid of Taiki forgetting me. 'Taiki nodded, and remembered what he told the commoner group back in the kitchen.

"That's right, Shoutmon." Taiki grinned. "If worse comes to worse, I'll probably make Siesta my secret keeper, huh?"

"Why are you so adamant on getting Siesta back?" Derflinger voiced out his concern. "Isn't the familiar marking supposed to be directed to the master, Louise? Why are you able to defy that?"

"I think Wisemon knows." Shoutmon shrugged in response to his childhood friend's question.

"Well, that's for another time. It appears we've arrived." Wisemon interrupted, as a big mansion arrives from view. Taiki prepared himself for negotiations.

* * *

**Inside Count Mott's Estate**

* * *

It has been little more than a day since Siesta had arrived at the estate, and she was already lonely. None of the other maids and servants were willing to talk and chat like those of the academy. They were all so solemn and quiet and the moment that she tried starting a conversation, the head maid scolded her for three hours straight about the etiquette of a maid, whatever that means. All she understood is that causing noise in this house might make the master angry and kick them ALL out of the house.

Siesta sighed as she swept the floor in the main hall. The area near the fountain was not really, easy to clean, as the guards on the big doorway were little concerned when a leaf had somehow entered the doorway. But, at least, it gave Siesta a false feeling of freedom. It makes her think that it was possible to just run out the door and just go straight home to Tarbes.

_No, Siesta. You mustn't think that way._ Siesta scolded herself in her head. _You're the one sending money back to your family, remember? You must keep strong._

_It doesn't help that the Academy has better working conditions._ The cynical side of her head replied. Siesta sighed. She knew that sooner or later, she might finally be called to "service" Count Mott. Siesta looked out and took one last look at the horizon, only to see a certain familiar face.

"Hey, you brat, how did you get in here?" A Guard spotted the person and walked over. He went to grab the boy's shoulder, only for him to do something unexpected. He pulled out the sword hanging from his back and swung it down.

"…_men_." Taiki muttered softly as the guard was lying down on the ground dizzily. Taiki had only used Derflinger's blunt side so Taiki wasn't really worried of having hurt him. The other guard ran up to him, pulling out his own sword. Taiki's left glove started to glow slightly, and Taiki simply muttered "_kote_", sidestepped and struck his armguard, still with Derf's blunt side. With the guard losing his weapon, Taiki then went for a chest strike. "_dou_" Taiki struck the blade's blunt side across the chest plate. Both guards' fell down without even so much of a chance.

"This familiar symbol's strength is such a hack in your hand, Taiki." Shoutmon's voice told him from within the Xros Loader. Taiki laughed alongside him, and Siesta even heard as though at least 10 more people laughing. Taiki walked in the open doors, and saw Siesta.

"Oy, Siesta, ~" Taiki waved at her. "You didn't come when I was going to [Reload] one of my other partners, so I got worried and came looking for you. I did promise to show you my Digimon, and not just Louise, you know."

"Though the girl was more or less livid on the fact that Taiki refused to [Reload] without Siesta there as well." Derf laughed.

"But…Taiki… you're not planning on coming here every day to reload the Digimon right? So why… why are you here?" Taiki shook his head.

"Derf told me that female commoners who got whisked away by nobles tend to get off on the wrong end of the system… and… I don't think Count Mott will pay you fairly anytime soon for your… whatever you are about to do."

"You never know… some nobles can be generous…"

"For a certain price." Wisemon mentioned.

"Oh, my, my… to think there would be an intruder who got past my guards. I shouldn't have hired those commoners." A voice called from above the steps. "Oh and new girl, kindly retreat as I deal with the intruder." Siesta turned and spotted a certain face and retreated behind Taiki. Taiki grinned at the man.

"Oh, you must be Count Mott!" Taiki laughed as he sheathed Derf. "I'm just here to visit a friend, and see how she's doing." Taiki looked behind him to see a few maids, clothes slightly disheveled and faces rather grief-stricken or scared.

"So the new girl is your friend? Well, even so, it doesn't help that you are still an intruder. Leave now, before I throw you in the dungeon, commoner."

"That's so generous of you, but I don't want to leave without Siesta." Taiki replied. "I just don't want to leave her here. Especially since I don't know if you'll let me see her again. And I still have a promise to keep, after all."

"You'd think I'd allow you to take her? She was signed over to me freely. Her contract is now mine! But I like your spunk, kid. Are you really going to fight me for it?" Count Mott flourished his wand. "Are you SURE you want to fight me? Mott the Wave?" The man pulled out his wand. "I'm a Triangle Water Mage, if you must know."

"That's great!" Taiki nodded. "I was worried that you might get hurt too badly, but now I know I don't have to worry."

"What?" Count Mott gagged at the boy's confidence. "Aren't you going to ask for a way out of this fight? You will certainly lose."

"Why? Masaru told me that the best way for two men to come to an understanding is to beat each other up." Taiki shrugged, pulling out his sword. "So, let's go, Count Mott."

"Hope you can heal yourself afterwards, commoner. Because I'm not about to."

"Right. I'm counting on you, ChibiKamemon. [DigiXros]!" Taiki called out, with his Xros Loader gripped tightly on his left hand. A bright light flashed on the item and blinded the group.

"What? What's going on?" Count Mott shielded his eyes, and when he finally opened them, there was Taiki, but there was something different. The goggles are now covering his eyes, and had turned into blue-green, with the glass itself being sapphire blue. Taiki had also gotten a sort of odd shield shaped like a turtle shell on his back, which he hefted onto his free left arm.

"Let's go, Count Mott." Taiki readied his sword and shield. "Our duel begins now!" Count Mott nodded. Taiki nodded, rushing forward with the added speed of the rune on his left arm. Count Mott dodged the initial strike, and fired a stream of water from the nearby vase. Taiki put up the shield and the water uselessly splashed on its side.

"The round shape of your shield is weakening my attack." Count Mott smiled as he moved backwards, as Taiki prepared his blade again. "You are a truly worthy opponent, commoner. May I ask for your name?"

"Kudou Taiki."

"Kudou Taiki, Why are you so adamant on getting her back?"

"Because she's my precious nakama. My precious friend." Taiki replied. "That's why… I can't turn my back on her. I just won't."

"Why don't you accept my offer? If you bring me a certain object from the Zerbst Family, I might let her go."

"But the fact remains that I'll be leaving Siesta in danger for another day. And since I arrived, isn't it likely that you'll make her work even harder? If that's the case, I'd rather fight you and earn her freedom." Count Mott's eyes formed a glare, aiming daggers at the boy that intruded upon his land.

"Freedom? What do you mean by freedom? Remember, this is my land! Everything on it, from the trees, to the animals, to the grass, and to every commoner here, they belong to me! And do I hinder them? No! They are very free here! All they'll need to do is to serve me, and serve me well!" Taiki noticed a little too late. The man was moving towards that fountain of his this whole time. Caught off guard, the noble shot a huge wave against Taiki. Taiki once more protected himself with the shield, but then he was still thrown across the room. Satisfied, he finished his rant, "Even if they have to pleasure me for a bit."

"Taiki!" Siesta cried out, seeing the boy on the wall. Taiki grumbled, standing up.

"You're right. You do have the right to do that, and that makes you king of this land." Taiki nodded. "Then as a king, let's make a bet. If I win, you will sign over Siesta's Contract to me, and you will allow us to leave." Siesta gasped.

"T… Taiki… but… why? And… if you…" Siesta's head can't understand what Taiki just said. If she gets signed over to Taiki, wouldn't that make Taiki her master? That means Taiki would… Siesta's head couldn't grasp the thought.

"And if I win, you will serve me for free, until you die." Count Mott nodded. "This makes our duel more interesting. By the way, your first job would be to fix this place within the day." Count Mott then summoned another wave. Taiki raised the shell once more.

"ChibiKamemon, ganbatte." Taiki muttered to the turtle shell.

"Of course!" This was the answer from within Taiki.

"Sorry, but the thing is, you've lost already." And with this Taiki rushed to the water. Count Mott gasped. _The idiot! _was the thought that went through his head. But then he realizes that the stupid one wasn't his opponent when he finally saw a figure emerge from the wave. Turtle shell forward, his sword lagging behind, Taiki ran through the blitzing water, revealing the vulnerable mage. As soon as Taiki could see the man, he raised his blade, ready for the kill.

Taiki aimed to strike down the mage, but in an odd sense of Déjà vu, the mage raised his arm and cried out: "I give up!" Taiki slowed down his blade, as the warm sensation on his hand starts disappearing, and his power draining. Taiki sighed and turned Derflinger and hit the man with the blunt side of the weapon.

"So you're all done?" Taiki asked the man.

"You've earned your right. You get the maid!" Count Mott clapped his hands, in an effort to praise the commoner boy who had just defeated him. "The contract is in my office; we can talk there."

"You're just going to give up? That's it?" Taiki asked confused.

"A splendid mage has arrived in my land, and defeated me though I used my best skill. Such skill is commendable."

"I'm not a mage." Taiki replied quickly.

"Then you expect me to believe that you summoned a shield out of nowhere, and not used magic? Hard to believe, child." Taiki thought on that matter, and nodded. He was right. Even though the Xros Loader isn't magic, what he did was something impossible in this world. Since it was, then they could easily attribute it to magic. So… They left it at that, as Count Mott walked up the steps and towards his workroom. Taiki used [Xros Open] and followed the mage.

"Oh, and new girl, please go pack all your stuff, while the two of us does business."

* * *

"Kindly spell out your surname for me, Kudou Taiki. I'm quite confused if it's spelt T-A-Y-K-E-E, or T-A-I-K-E-E."

"Uh… if we're speaking romaji, my surname would be spelt K-U-D-O or you could spell it as K-U-D-O-U…" Taiki replied. "Taiki's my given name." Count Mott wordlessly wrote down the spelt word. Soon enough, Taiki's name was written across the parchment, and was handed over to Taiki, who placed it in the bag he was carrying. The man immediately walked off to the side and took an odd box that was on the shelf nearby. Taking it and placing it on the table, he announced:

"Taiki Kudou, you are a superb mage, with an ability that surpassed me, a Triangle Mage, even though you do not seem to be of any rank. So now I present to you an item for you to remember your victory with." Taiki looked at the box and saw a yellow gemstone that was made to be in the shape of a diamond. Taiki gasped at the sight, but the mage paid no mind. "Your gaining the maid's contract is a very grand thing, but I feel a bit more compelled to hand this over as well. It's not an item of importance to me, I can assure you. So go, on take it."

"You're giving me a Code Crown? For real?" Taiki looked into the eye of the man. There was no malice, nor anything else.

"Oh, is that what it's called? Since you know more of the item than me, then you might as well do take it. Consider it a gift." The man closed the box and handed it over to Taiki. "Now hurry along and leave." He then pushed the boy out with magic, not knowing what he's done. To the world travelers, this was like being given the crown of the king after nearly killing him. Taiki soon found himself on the bottom steps of the stairs, looking at the Code Crown. The yellow jewel shone with a light as it shone on the intrigued Taiki. He knew that the moment he touches a Code Crown, an SD-Card-like object will appear, or at least that's how it worked if they were in the Digital World. In this world, they weren't really too sure.

"… A Code Crown… Taiki, with this, we might be able to send Taiki back to the Real World through the Digital World!" Taiki turned to look at his Xros Loader.

"That just might work…" Taiki grinned, and touched the Code Crown. The yellow covering immediately dissolved at his touch, and Taiki pulled out the card that confirmed his suspicions. He was about to put the crown in when a voice interrupted him.

"Ano…" Taiki turned to the source, to find Siesta in casual clothes. Siesta was carrying a sort of trunk with her, which Taiki took from her. "Taiki… I guess I should say thank you… but…" Siesta looked confused as to the discarded box, and the odd item that Taiki was about to place in the Xros Loader. Taiki merely shrugged and pocketed the card, not caring about the box which lost its purpose.

"At any rate, I hope the horse can carry all this." Taiki chuckled slightly. "Let's go, Siesta."

"I'll carry it instead, Master Taiki." One of the maids nearby offered. "Lord Mott has allowed you to take the carriage if you require it."

"That will be very helpful, thank you." Taiki nodded, smiling. Siesta smiled as she noted that she was coming back to the place that she knew she belonged, more than here. Siesta turned to Taiki.

"Let's go."

* * *

The preparations for the carriage were taking longer than expected, and Siesta and Taiki spends a bit of time away from the whole thing. They were told that they would just be called for if they are needed.

"Taiki… why did you come for me? I mean… I… I…"

"There's no reason for me not to. I was worried." Taiki shrugged. "There were rumor mills about Count Mott, though it seems they were a bit uncalled for. At the very least, I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"But why? I mean… as a Familiar, shouldn't you have been more worried about leaving your Master than searching for a friend?"

"You underestimate Taiki, Siesta!" Shoutmon cackled from within the Xros Loader once more. "If it was to save a comrade, he'll never turn his back on him or her. He'll continue down that path regardless of if it would cause him danger. I mean, you do know that for the sake of our world, Taiki became my army's general!"

"That's a bit too much, Shoutmon." Taiki laughed. "But yeah, I'll never turn my back from a person in need. Not after Hiraga-kun…"

"Hiraga?"

"Ah, don't mind that… It doesn't matter." Taiki hurriedly responded.

"I want to know. Who is this Hiraga?"

"… Hiraga … Why… I can't… remember his name… I guess, Hiraga is… He's a friend I met during my… elementary days… He… sort of… Well, I guess that doesn't matter now." Taiki hurriedly changed the subject. "I can't remember for some reason…"

"Oh… Is that so?"

"Probably the familiar runes acting up again." Taiki shrugged. In a grimace, as he noticed that the runes are still able to modify that part of his memories. He knows that his reason was linked to that boy, but why?

"The familiar runes? Wha… what about the familiar runes…?"

Taiki scratched his head as the sentence sunk in. Should he reply honestly or should he not? He decided that he should.

"As a familiar to Louise, I think that the runes make sure that my heart would be directed to Louise. Wisemon calls it 'modifying my memories and emotions to fit her needs'." Derflinger took the decision off of Taiki's hands and simply replied. Siesta looked concerned about that.

"You mean… it forces you to love her? Despite the abuse you get? Despite the suffering?"

"I'm not that abused. She treats me just fine."

"But even then, such a malignant program. A human's worth is measured by his Digisoul. To change around their Digisoul, they lose their own identity. That's unacceptable." Wisemon mentions immediately. "If only the air was digitali… TAIKI!" Wisemon abruptly stops his rant and shouts to Taiki. "The Code Crown! I think it might be possible that using that Code Crown, we could pseudo-increase the link between the Digital World and this land. Your Xros Loader does still hold the allegiance of all the Digital World's Code Crown, so if we link this zone with the Digital World, we could probably turn this place more digital!" Taiki blinked, not sure as to what Wisemon meant.

"At any rate, just plug in the Code Crown, and we might be able to make a bit more permanent changes to the Familiar Rune's more malignant programming." Taiki nodded slightly, reaching out for the card in his pocket, he put it in the slot.

"Okay, what should I do next, Wisemon?"

* * *

That afternoon, a carriage could be seen being pulled along the road to Tristain's Academy of Magic. A man, a commoner, was making sure to keep the two horses pulling the carriage stay on track. These two horses were of different origins, one from the academy itself which must be returned to the stables, one from Count Mott to bring the carriage back. It was a difficult time for the man, as the one from the academy is not really used to pulling carriages and could be a bit rebellious. But that didn't matter to the two people inside the carriage. That, one Digimon, and a sword. Shoutmon was stretching as he sat directly in front of Taiki. Siesta was seated right next to Taiki, out of courtesy to the King, and certainly not to be right next to the boy. Derf was 'seated' right next to Shoutmon, though it really is more like leaning to the side.

"It's an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. Taiki had mentioned many things about you." Siesta made a pseudo-curtsy.

"Yup, truly an honor." Derf nodded.

"Just Shoutmon is fine." The Digimon King grinned, "You're our ally now, Siesta. Our Comrade." Shoutmon stretched and grinned, "But man, I was bummed out when Wisemon said that he only stopped the memory erasure, but can't get back the lost memories."

"They're not lost. They're still there. Just hidden." Taiki smiled. "I'll get them back, don't worry."

"Well, nothing to do about it." Shoutmon smirked. "But, man, this is a great view!" Shoutmon looked out the window, as a smirk covered his face. Siesta looked at the small dragon's ears to see the Crown symbols on them.

"He's truly a king of commoners." Siesta smiled. "He doesn't speak like a noble, nor does he try to act formally."

"He never did act formally around me." Taiki laughed.

"More like there's no need to act formally, to both you and Siesta." Shoutmon grinned. "If, let's say, I was talking to the legendary heroes I'll have to be a bit more formal. That Commander Sampson guy was so stoic I needed to match up to him to prove that I was a king. But Siesta is our ally, remember? She's Xros Heart then. No need for pretenses if you're part of Xros Heart. Same goes for you Derf."

"M-me… part of Xros Heart?"

"What, you don't like it?" Shoutmon's brow furrowed. "I didn't think that you wouldn't-"

"No, it's not that." Siesta hastily told him. "I was just… surprised that you regarded me as such…"

"Well, you got signed over to us, so you're technically Taiki's servant, you see." Taiki looked as though he was about to protest when Shoutmon continued, "But Taiki here wouldn't see you as a servant. He'll see you as a friend. And when you're closest to Taiki, we can consider you Xros Heart as well."

"It's too bad you can't seem to remember anything about Hiraga, Taiki… I would have liked to know more about him." Derf voice sounds wistful. "Maybe I'd like him as well."

"I might too." Siesta giggled.

Taiki turned and nodded. Taiki then frowned "But there's still one thing I'm confused about though… Why DID I choose to fight Count Mott? Why… did I say those things when there was an easier way without fighting…? I don't understand…" Taiki moaned, sighing against his seat. Siesta looked confused at him.

"Huh? Are you saying that what you did now was entirely on impulse? You didn't plan anything?" Shoutmon asked abruptly. "I mean, Taiki, I thought that was your plan on getting Siesta back!"

"Uh, Shoutmon… that's not how it is. I wanted to talk to Count Mott, rather than fight him. I mean, I could've killed him if he was another prideful person, more so than Guiche."

Silence crept across the room. No voice made a sound, as everyone was entirely unsure on Taiki's thought processes. All except…

"That would be my fault." Wisemon's voice broke the silence. "When I was editing the rune, I noticed a loyalty program."

"Loyalty Program?"

"Yes. The program was made so that the rune's owner has a true loyalty to the caster of the summon spell, I discovered that was one cause of your problems with your Digisoul and Memory. I wanted your soul to remain close to your homeland, so that you won't forget us so easily, so I decided to switch your loyalties to the one near who has Japanese Blood."

"Siesta." Taiki's eyes widened and turned to the girl. "She's the most Japanese I've seen in Halkeginia. So she's also of Japanese descent. And because my loyalty is on Siesta, I did reckless things just to ensure her safety, without even thinking about it." Taiki sighed, knowing that while Wisemon meant well, he still did something without permission. "Wisemon, please tell me before you do stuff like that."

"I'm…" Siesta shook a bit, not knowing what to say.

"Don't mind it, Siesta. We wanted to help you anyway." Derf shrugged. "The runes just happened to change things up a bit." Siesta nodded, still unsure. "And we don't regret it either, right partner?"

"Right." Taiki nodded. Siesta's worries eased, as she lay back down onto the back of the chair. Silence filled the room as the four inhabitants laid down, pondering on their personal thoughts. Soon, Shoutmon thought of something that he felt was threatening.

"Eh, Taiki, Siesta got signed over to us, right? Wouldn't that mean we have to pay her wages?"

Taiki sweat dropped, "e…ehhhhhhh?" Siesta laughed as Taiki panics a bit. Taiki tries thinking, turning to Siesta as he ponders, "Wha… what should we do?"

The whole Xros Heart was in a panic.

Shoutmon also panics, "Wisemon, this is all your fault for making the loyalty thingamajig go to Siesta! Do something!"

"We could allocate a few of our gold from the remnants of Gold Land to pay her some of our wages…" Wisemon said.

"Don't worry; I'll continue working for the school, at least. Marteau could probably pull a few strings." Siesta smiled. Looking past the outside window, the afternoon sky shone with a light she once thought impossible, softly thinking. The two moons were starting to rise, and the sun was starting to set. "Neh, Taiki…"

"Yeah?" It was not Taiki who replied to Siesta's voice. It was Shoutmon. Siesta turned to the boy on her side, and found him finally sleeping, exhausted from the entire day. Shoutmon grinned from across the carriage, as Siesta turned to face him.

"… It's nothing."

"Oooooooooooooooh, I'll have to say that I think Akari has dibs on Taiki's heart if you wanted to try." Shoutmon shrugged, laughing. "But then again, Taiki never did say if he liked anyone. You just might have a chance."

"Th-that's… It's not like… I…" Siesta blushed brightly at Shoutmon's accusation. Shoutmon grinned. No matter what her words say, she wasn't able to deny her own heart. Shoutmon could practically hear her heart thumping wildly in her chest, as Taiki moved a bit and ending up sleeping on her shoulder. Siesta's blush just got deeper.

"Looks like this world likes their prince's on their white horses!" Shoutmon cackled, rather loudly. Siesta hurriedly turned away from the red dragon.

'Is this really Taiki's king?' Siesta wondered, but noting how nice the dragon is, Siesta simply smiled.

"I pledge my allegiance to you and to your army of Xros Heart."

"Got it. Then your first job from me is to keep Taiki safe." Shoutmon nodded. "Taiki's a hero, whether he wanted to be or not. But I know that he is the best person in the world, and that's all that matters to me. I'd want him to still be safe when we're done." With a silent nod, Siesta waited as time passed. Siesta prepares herself for a new life, as Taiki's servant.

* * *

**Academy**

* * *

They had finally arrived back at the academy. Upon their arrival, Shoutmon immediately returned to the Xros Loader. Taking the academy horse from the carriage, Taiki immediately took it to the stables.

"Hey, you leaving already?" Taiki asked the coachman. The man turned to Taiki and shrugged.

"I don't know. I'd like to stay for food, but I don't think I'll get any…"

"You'll get some." Siesta smiled. "The kitchen staff would be happy to feed you. Just leave the horse I the stables, and I think some of the staff would feed it soon enough." The man nodded appreciatively.

"Okay, please lead the way." And with that, Taiki and Siesta walked ahead of the man. The man stayed behind and fixed the horse onto the stables and simply hoped that the two won't walk too fast before he could follow. He DOES want to eat.

* * *

"You think Marteau would be willing to take you back?" Taiki asked, worried.

"I know the Head Chef. He will." Siesta smiled. "He's like my father away from home, after all." Taiki nodded as the two stood in front of the kitchens. They waited for the coachman and upon his arrival, Taiki knocked on the door.

"Yo, guys, it's me, Taiki!" Taiki called out. In less than a second the door opened and the three were instantly ushered in. Chef Marteau stood among them with a proud expression, as though he was expecting him.

"Welcome back, Our Rock. Also, welcome back, Siesta!" The man greeted both of them. "And you are the one who brought the two of them, I presume?" The coachman simply gives a nod. "I guess some thanks is in order then." He then turned to the other cooks. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to make do with bread I'm afraid. We didn't expect you back so late, Our Rock. And we had been preparing a few things for you whilst you were gone." Taiki raised an eyebrow about this.

"Huh? Preparing what?"

"That will be our surprise." He laughed. "So I suppose, a bit of celebration won't hurt~! We'll have to make do with the commoner's share of the meals, but at the very least, we can be happy!" Taiki and Siesta were surprised as a mini buffet was pulled out of the pantries and placed in the middle of the tables. The coachman simply gasped as he looked on the selection. Taiki and Siesta themselves were surprised.

"Uh… isn't this… a bit excessive? I mean…" Despite Siesta's doubts, Taiki simply looked across the table to see the dishes on the table, not sure as to what to say. It appears that they secretly stole a few wines from the cellar, and a bit of the food wasn't handed over to the dining hall. Amused, Taiki sighed and smiled, sitting down. A little party amongst commoners is always welcome.

* * *

"Hahahahaha! So, Siesta here somehow ended up with her contract with 'Our Rock'!"

"Yeah… I wanted to talk to you about it." Taiki nodded, as though he was preparing for a business deal. "You see… I don't know if I can handle it. Maybe… you could take it off my hands if you could…"

"Nonsense! Your contract with Siesta is a very, very rare thing to happen, especially for a commoner!"

"Count Mott didn't really believe that." Taiki smiled, "He mostly thought that I was a former noble or something. He even handed over the Code Crow-"Taiki abruptly stopped himself from continuing that trail of thought.

_There's Code Crown's in this world… That means, there are zones._ Taiki pulled out his Xros Loader and summoned up the map function.

"That's a pretty interesting map you got there." One of the staff mentioned. "Must've been handy!"

Taiki simply opened up the general area of Tristain. When he did, he could see that a part of it had turned red. Zooming in, he could see the mark of Xros Heart on that area. Taiki immediately closed the area. _So what I did during that incident counted as me getting the zone… Count Mott's Zone was quite a big area_, Taiki chuckled in his mind. _Well it included the nearby farmlands, so I guess it wasn't much of a surprise._

"At any rate, Taiki, we would be very happy to get Siesta a job here again. She'll be registered as the school's staff and so will get paid by the school." Chef Marteau nodded. "But, we are not going to take the contract from you and hand it over to the school." Taiki looked up, surprised.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You can keep Siesta's contract in the meantime~ I don't see Siesta complaining after all." He heartily laughed, as Siesta's blush grew deeper. Taiki turned to the girl, and raised an eyebrow.

"But… I don't see why I should… I mean I'm not the one paying her…"

"Think of it as a free service, right, Siesta?" Siesta immediately nodded, and a cheerful smile covered her face. "Good! Just tell us if Taiki does anything perverted, or something~" Taiki immediately opened his mouth to argue, but that was soon drowned in a sea of laughter, and soon enough, Taiki himself was inside the chorus as well.

* * *

The coachman and the carriage are now headed back to the man's lands. Siesta has been returned to her old room, though it seemed they didn't really bother preparing it for anyone else, as though they expected Taiki to bring her back. Taiki shook his head in this matter and laughed a bit. He looked onto his situation and found it ridiculous as well. He was standing right outside Louise's Room, and with a few knocks, Taiki waited for a voice. No voice ever sounded out. He tried the doorknob. It was locked.

_Looks like Louise took an early sleep._ Taiki smiled. _Well, I suppose I could announce my return at least._

"Louise, I've come back. But seeing as you are asleep, I suppose I'm to sleep outside again. See you in the morning then~" With that, he walked off back to the gardens near the tower of water.

* * *

"Okay, where is it…" Taiki asked, frustrated as he searched the bushes. He should've known not to leave that bag in here.

"Our Rock. What are you searching for?" Taiki turned to find Marteau and another man.

"Oh, hello, Marteau." Taiki nodded and grinned. "I'm just looking for my bag and all."

"Your bag?"

"Yeah. I needed to get it back and get some sleep."

"Do you plan on sleeping outside once more, Taiki?" The other man asked. Taiki grinned.

"I guess so, Delmont. I just… hey, what are you guys doing?" Taiki found himself pinned between the two men and found himself being carried back to the servant's quarters.

"It would be inappropriate for someone like yourself, a rebel leader, to sleep in such an uncomfortable spot while your own servant sleeps in a comfortable bed."

"You're not planning on dumping me in Siesta's room just for the fun of it, right?"

The two laughed with a voice that Taiki was almost sure would've woken up everyone. "Of course not! We'll let Siesta decide that. We prepared one of the extra rooms just for you! The guy handling the quarters heard everything about you and is willing to let you sleep there!"

"No strings attached?" Derflinger asked. The two looked at the sword and nodded.

"None whatsoever!" And with that, they dropped him off inside the room they were speaking of. It was a modest room, with little decoration. Taiki looked on the bed and found a set of spare sleeping garments, and his own bag on the nightstand. Taiki sighed as he finally had a bed to sleep upon, but Taiki wasn't so sure about receiving one. Taiki immediately just shrugged and smiled, pulling out his Xros Loader, to speak once more to Shoutmon."

"It's been so long since I last heard your voice, Shoutmon." Taiki grinned.

"Yeah, Taiki… But I'm afraid I need to leave again soon enough."

Taiki's smile weakened, but it soon came back full force. "I understand. You have some stuff you need to handle again right?"

"Gumdramon." Shoutmon snorted. "So, see you again, Taiki!" Shoutmon grinned. "I'll probably be back sometime next week. Need to check up on you guys after all. I also need Siesta and Derf over there to sign their membership forms. Just a formality, but I need to do it I'm afraid. They're counted as members already, after all~"

"How'd you expect me to sign anything?" Derf asked. Both of the two just ignored him.

"You take care of yourself, Shoutmon." Taiki nodded. "Too bad Louise was already asleep; would've shown you to her."

"Nah, I don't want to meet the slave driver." Shoutmon huffed, his yellow scarf waving from within the Xros Loader. "I'll be going now." Taiki nodded. Taiki blinked and looked at the sky outside his new window. The two moons were not really in sight, but Taiki knew it was there.

"A Code Crown in this world. And Omegamon told me to collect them. I wonder… what should I do next?"

* * *

**Mott's Estate**

* * *

Count Mott was busy preparing his papers, as he sighed at his recent defeat. He was so immersed that he did not realize that a flag, bearing the same mark that was on his defeater's chest. The red flag of Xros Heart soared in his sky, but it also disappeared soon, as the general fell asleep, with no one else seeing the mark.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

* * *

"A zone has been captured." An unknown figure crept from the shadows, as he looked onto a map, bearing Halkeginia's lands. "The zone has turned red. We must tell the leader."

"Tell the leader what?" Another voice asked.

The unknown figure grinned. This grin wasn't like Taiki's which was inviting and friendly. No. This grin was that of a Cheshire Cat.

"It appears that the Zone Wars will, soon enough, restart."

* * *

**Chapter End**

* * *

**Siesta of Tarbes has joined the Xros Heart Army**

**Derflinger has joined the Xros Heart Army**

**Count Mott's Lands is now under the control of the Xros Heart Army**

**Unknown Zone is now under the control of the [-] Army**

* * *

**Travel Time Explanations:**

Taiki leaves early morning. However, he didn't really go fast. His horse was merely trotting, and he himself was taking leisure of the travel, and he didn't waste any chance to ask if he was going in the right direction. He stops for lunch on a nearby house in Mott's lands. He works off his lunch for a few hours, helping the farmers with miscellaneous deeds. Taiki then arrives at Mott's estate at presumably just about a few hours after noon. He then spends three hours negotiating with Mott, as well as preparing the carriage (Reloading Wisemon to edit the runes as well). The carriage ride took around three hours. By the time Taiki arrives back at the academy, it would be evening. He spends an hour at the party in the kitchens, and another few minutes helping Siesta unpack, and by the time he goes to Louise's room, Louise had already been tired of waiting and slept. Hope that clears things up if you thought that I was being deliberately random with the travel time.

* * *

If the name is underlined, that means added by this story.

**Xros Heart Army Members (Humans):**

Kudou Taiki (Original Trio) (Leader and Founder, Army Strategist)

Hinomoto Akari (Original Trio) (Official Secretary)

Tsurugi Zenjirou (Original Trio) (Combat Specialist)

Amano Nene (Former Twilight General) (Stealth and Information Specialist)

Amano Yuu (Former Bagra Army/Twilight General)

Siesta of Tarbes

**Xros Heart Army Members (Digimon)**

Taiki's Xros Loader: Shoutmon, Starmon, White Pickmonz, Silver Pickmonz, Wisemon, Lillymon, White PawnChessmonz, Knightmon, Bastemon, Pinochimon, Jijimon, ChibiKamemon, Red Monitamonz, Dondokomon

Akari's Xros Loader: Cutemon, Dorulumon, White PawnChessmonz

Zenjirou's Xros Loader: Ballistamon, Revolmon, Red Pickmon

Nene's Xros Loader: Sparrowmon, Green Monitamonz, Mervamon, Beelzebumon, Monimon,

Yuu's Xros Loader: Damemon, SuperStarmon, RookChessmon

Spadamon, Lunamon, Coronamon, Olegmon, Apollomon, Grademon, Ignitomon

**Xros Heart Army Members (Miscellaneous)**

Derflinger

**Allies:**

Chosen Children

Tamers

Spirit Warriors

DATS

Blue Flare

Digimon Hunters (Akashi Tagiru is in this group. Why? That's for another story I might write, but at the very least I'll give you a reason later on in this story. Yes it has something to do with Gumdramon's little rebellion stints Shoutmon mentions every so often)

Digimemory Digimon

Zone Residents

* * *

LW: This was too long for my tastes… It's over twice as long as any of the chapters I've ever written!

Taiki: So what's next?

LW: The Evaluation Fair is drawing near! Henrietta makes her first appearance! But wait, Fouquet is supposed to appear soon as well right? Well, whatever gets included in the next chapter, we'll be ready for it! **Next Chapter: Never Give Up, Familiar of Zero!**

Taiki: Don't turn your back on the next chapter! Read on and Review~


	7. A Familiar, the Princess, and the Thief!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar**  
by Lunar Wave

A/N: Ahaha, I made a minor mistake regarding Puppetmon. Considering that I'm using the Japanese names of people here, I fixed Puppetmon's Name as Pinochimon. People reading previous chapters might see those changes being implemented now.

_**The Familiar, the Princess, and the Thief!**_

* * *

**Halkeginia: Tristain Academy of Magic**

* * *

It was nearing midnight, and no one was still expected to be awake. Even Colbert had finally fallen to the warm embrace of sleep. Taiki himself would've been asleep… except he was currently being levitated by Tabitha as his master and Kirche were having this stupid argument that Taiki will never agree to. It was simply silly for Taiki to care about the whole thing. Why? Because he already argued about this just a week ago.

"Taiki prefers my sword than that ornament in your hands, Zerbst."

"Ornament? This is a fine Germanian Sword here! I'd very much be surprised if Mikey-darling not give up that rusty piece of metal and use this instead!"

"I take offense since the general himself had picked me out of the whole lot!" Derf said, and you can easily imagine a scowl if he only had a face.

"He was simply suffering from a situation where the master is so much of a cheapskate and can't even buy him a decent sword."

"You don't even know anything about swords, do you? Well Taiki does, and he chose this sword instead of that piece of junk."

For the record, Taiki didn't really know much about swords either, but he knows that his rune would react if he was holding a real weapon with intent to use it. So the scales were very much tipping towards the Tristain Noble's side. Of course, Taiki was pretty much unable to speak about that and sighed. Maybe he shouldn't have ordered Derf to remain silent in front of others as well. Well, no use regretting what happened in the past. He immediately zoned them out like he usually does when Zenjirou yells at him to duel him again.

Speaking of Zenjirou, Taiki had decided to tell Siesta and, by extension, Derf as much of his life as possible, so that he wouldn't forget it due to the rune's curse. He had already explained about his status as General, and hoped that he could start talking about his own life, while not telling them anything about the existence of the Real World. The fact that there's one parallel world already confused the two. Adding another one might be too difficult for them. He'll tell them at the right time but not while they're still digesting the fact that he came from a land where he was a general. Also, there's still some debate on what to call that particular world; Real World is hardly the ideal way to call it.

Even after all that thinking Taiki just did, the two were still at it, and Tabitha was looking tired. Taiki didn't really know much about the silent magician, but he can't help but feel sorry for her. Taiki immediately signaled a few signs that he hoped Tabitha would notice.

"… Very well." Tabitha immediately lowered the boy without another word. Two words. The first he ever heard more than one word come out of the girl's mouth. Taiki immediately walked over to them and shook his head.

"Kirche, thanks for the effort to buy the sword, but I'm very happy having Derflinger at my side." Taiki took the rusty steel blade from his master, who was smirking at the Zerbst heir. He slung the sword on his shoulder once more and Taiki could have sworn that the blade made a sound as though relieved.

"Well, just take this sword and try it out when you have the chance, won't you, Mikey-darling?" Taiki nodded. Unfortunately, he can't dual wield, so that will never happen, Taiki chuckled in his mind as he took the sword from the woman. The red-haired noble left immediately, as though pursuing a more noble route. Silence filled the yard, as all three mages left the area. If Louise had been expecting Taiki to follow, she would have merely been disappointed. Though she does not yet know of Taiki's current living arrangements, she at least guessed that the boy would be much more comfortable remaining as far away from her. She hasn't even approached him about using [Reload], being focused on the fair two days later.

Taiki breathed once more.

"Good to know that you're still with me on the sword thing, Partner!"

"I'll never abandon you anyway." Taiki grinned, as he held the extra blade in its scabbard. "Let's go have dinner at the kitchen again."

"Partner, you know I can't eat." A roar of laughter erupted from the Xros Loader and Taiki himself, as the two walked to their destination.

The boy kept a slow pace, not worrying about being quick. The kitchens were on the other side of the academy, so the time it takes to get there was rather long. If he was a bit quicker he might've avoided seeing something strange. That something strange was a big lumbering golem, about 10 meters tall, approaching the side of one of the big building in the center. Taiki looked in alarm as he saw the big monstrosity. He soon found a human figure on the monster's shoulder, and did his best to remain quiet.

"General, what the hell is that!?" Pinochimon voice was unfortunately a bit loud enough for the monster's master to spot them.

"Wha-… How… Ch… I thought that Gandalfr no longer slept outside…" The figure growled slightly. The voice sounded quite feminine, but Taiki didn't really pay attention to that as he stabbed the scabbard of the extra blade onto the ground and pulled out Derflinger.

"Who are you, and what do you plan to do with that… giant?" Taiki called out, as he prepared the rune on his left hand for anything. No answer came from the mysterious figure and the golem turned towards the boy. The golem then immediately aimed a punch at the boy, and Taiki was sent flying across the field.

"DigiXros Time." Derflinger told him. "This isn't something we can cut." As much as Derf didn't like that fact, even he can't deny that a big lumbering monster of earth was something that he can't even expect to beat up.

Taiki nodded, sheathing the blade and pulling out the Xros Loader."Okay. [Pinochimon DigiXros]!" A bright light exited the Xros Loader and covered the area. A metal hammer appeared on his hand, and a wooden x was now tied to his two hands and legs respectively, while the x in itself is attached to his back. His clothes, unchanged, and his goggles now sported a brown hue and the glass is now red. But when he opens his eyes, he saw that the DigiXros was for naught, as the mysterious figure had already disappeared.

"Okay, now that's just a little strange…" Pinochimon mumbled, as they looked around. The figure was no longer in sight, and Taiki cautiously looked around, hoping to see some sign of the figure. Nothing.

"Okay… now that is a little strange…"

* * *

Too close. Too close for comfort. That Gandalfr, I didn't expect him to be out and about in this time of night! How… It's best if no one learns of me as of yet, but if the boy tells his master about her… The Staff of Destruction can wait. Yes. Wait. Maybe during the Evaluation Fair, when everyone is away… I'll need to time it when that Chevalier is performing, seeing as she is the bigger threat…

'Is she really the bigger threat?'

Ah, now I'm not sure… There was the legendary Gandalfr… It might be strange, but the boy might be the scarier threat. No. Stick to the plan. A mage is more powerful than a kid who can summon random weapons when he yells the incantation 'di-ji-cross'. Not that I ever learned what that incantation meant. For all I know, he can do more than summon that weird mace. A boy full of mysteries, and a powerful mage girl. Which was truly the bigger threat?

AGH, this is too confusing!

Okay, so the princess girl will be coming tomorrow, and will sleep too near the Staff of Destruction then I would want. The guards will pay special attention there. So tomorrow is out of the question. If I remember correctly, the princess would remain in the academy for a day or so after the Evaluation Fair, to discuss something important with the principal. What it is, even I wasn't privy to the details. Well, it's either that, or old fart Osmond still doesn't know anything about it.

Whatever. If I was able to steal the supposedly dangerous staff, then I would need to outsmart them all. Including the Royal Guards. Would it truly be wise to strike now? The safety of the young princess would be the priority. They would focus on the event itself. After all, nobles are proud people. And the Royal Guards are _composed_ of these damned nobles. They wouldn't even think twice of watching for potential recruits. And laughing at any of the incredulous familiars summoned. Mostly the latter than the former.

… I think I'll go with that. Yes. I'll strike when the idiot guards are all up there gawking at the familiars. Now… Valliere, or that Chevalier?

* * *

**Taiki's Room**

* * *

"… That sounds strangely like the thief, Fouquet the Crumbling Dust, Taiki…" Siesta muttered as she sat on Taiki's bed. The boy himself was situated on the nearby window, and Taiki had hung Derf near the bedside table. This was the natural position that the three would normally hold their conversations, with Derf serving as an alarm if there were any footsteps. Derf didn't really need to input much information after all. Taiki had [Reloaded] one of the PawnChessmonz to stand guard near the door. The ornament blade was discarded in a corner of the room.

"So what do you plan to do with her?"

"Nothing much really. We aren't even sure if it is Fouquet. She didn't seem to have stolen anything, and I don't want to get everyone's spirits down. Not when it's so close to the Evaluation Fair."

"Are you sure we shouldn't say anything about that incident, partner?"

"Yeah, Derf. But I do want Siesta to keep an eye out." Taiki nodded to the red band that covers the girl's wrist. "Just contact me with the wrister, if you find anything."

"I understand." Siesta looked at the object and smiled a bit. The wrister that she had was old and worn out, one of the first made. Taiki had procured this one from Akari, after she said that she won't really need it. The nobles haven't noticed the object during the course of the four days she has spent on wearing it, and the other staff members just thought of it as a present from Taiki, which they had taken glee on teasing her about. Siesta nearly buried her face in embarrassment as she thought of that, and immediately went for a change of subject.

"So, speaking about the Evaluation Fair… What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing really… Louise told me to try and play an instrument or something, but I'll just sound like an amateur. And speeches are beyond me. I'll probably just sing or throw a few puns or something…"

"NO PUNS!" The Xros Loader's occupants all yelled in an instant. "You could literally freeze people with them!" Taiki winced and just nodded.

"Okay… No jokes. I could hardly show them kendo when there's no one to spar with though, so swordplay is out."

"So you're going to sing?" Siesta asked, smiling slightly. "You do have a pretty good voice… So I guess it could work…"

"Oh, Partner, I think the little maid would prefer if she was able to watch your performance as well~" Derf cackled as Siesta face turned into a deep shade of red. Taiki looked thoughtfully, however.

"If you want to that's fine. But no promises that it will be any good."

"Know something, partner? Practice tomorrow, and we'll just tell you when you go tone deaf. And what about the music?"

"Wisemon's handling that with Shoutmon."

"Ah, no wonder the noisy hooded man hasn't appeared yet." Derf chuckled as he heard this little detail.

"They'll probably just illegally download the instrumental from the internet or something…" Taiki sighed, not really happy with the fact, but knew that they could technically do it and get away with it. It still doesn't feel right though.

And obviously, neither of the two people he is speaking with understood what 'download' and 'internet' meant. They just decided to ignore that though, since they already knew that everyone had odd terms that no one really understood. A sword would not truly understand everything about a human, and a maid will not understand an army leader. With these accepted facts, they easily brushed off any unnecessary worries.

"At any rate, I want you to remain wary of any threats, okay?" Now this they could understand. Derf made a sound that sounded like a snort, but it also sounded like a positive answer.

"Alright, Taiki." Siesta nodded. "Good night, I think you'll need a good rest." Taiki nodded appreciatively. Siesta smiled and walked over to the PawnChessmon near the door. The PawnChessmon immediately moved aside for the maid to exit. Siesta curtsied to her 'master', and left the room.

Taiki sighed and walked over to the bed and collapsed into it. He was immediately knocked out. After all, Pinochimon is still a mega-level Digimon. He's weaker than the counterparts in the other Digital Worlds, but he was still strong. Too strong for Taiki's body to handle. The PawnChessmon immediately jumped back inside the Xros Loader.

"Hey Partner…" Derf sighed, "Why do you work so hard not to let anyone see how much you are pushing yourself?" But the boy was already fast asleep.

* * *

**Siesta**

* * *

… _Not good. _Siesta thought to herself. _Why… what's going… Why are all the servants inside the whole academy gathered here?_ She had merely thought to get herself a glass of water before going to bed, but why was everyone here? And what's worse, why were they all staring at her. Shaking her head to get rid of her reddening cheeks, she forced herself to say a few words. "Ummm… what's going on?" The group grimaced upon realizing who it was, but Chef Marteau, the unofficial yet unconditional leader of the Academy Staff, simply turned to the others and nodded.

"It's time. Let's tell her."

* * *

**Henrietta**

* * *

To say that Henrietta de Tristain was confused was a rather large understatement. So many things in the territory her parents are ruling over that she has no control over are happening at the same time. And she has no control over it at all. Her recent engagement with the King of Germania is only another thing to pile on her growing stack. However, what is currently plaguing her mind is the situation in Albion. She sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to directly address that problem, and instead diverted her attention to another problem: the strange flag that was somehow waving in the skies around the southern lands.

But the main problem is not why it appeared. True, the sudden appearance of an unknown flag in the skies of many of the southern lands is a huge problem on its own, but that problem was already over with its disappearance as well. No. The problem is what it meant. It obviously meant something to the farmer commoners who were tilling the soil in the nearby farmlands. She remembered the response of the farmers when she inquired on their knowledge.

"That mark was seen on a commoner boy who was travelling around with that mark emblazoned on his shirt. I don't know all the details, as all I know are secondhand knowledge. But what I DO know is that the boy was going to rescue a maidservant from her oppressive master." This was the answer to her knowledge. And naturally Henrietta probed for more answers.

The man did not know any other details except that the mark defeated the master and had been honored by the man's estate to be taken back to where he came on the master's carriage. The noble was said to try to claim that the boy was actually a noble in disguise, but according to the farmers of that same noble, the boy had willingly helped at any of the farmers he stopped by and had not even tried to use magic to lighten his workload. He had also introduced himself as a commoner to them. These facts all pointed to his position as commoner. The mentioned noble wasn't named.

But the mark that represented the boy became a remembered mark among the people of that village, as they had all seen the flying flag before it disappeared. The man produced the mark to the princess, who merely only looked on it and shivered at the sight. It looked like a round face with a clear V symbol imprinted over it.

Henrietta sighed deeply, looking up from her desk. Tomorrow, she rides to the academy, where she hopes her dear childhood friend, Louise Francoise, would be there, and willing to catch up for old times' sake. Maybe she'll even ditch most of the guards and go on early.

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

As of recent, Taiki hadn't really experienced sleeping in. And today was no exception. He was up before most anyone, and he soon used the time that he had to wait out for food to jog around the place. Pulling on a spare crown shirt, he placed Derflinger on his back, and soon, he was running around the campus, trying to recite the names of all the locations as he passed it.

"Tower of Void…" Taiki muttered as he passed the said tower, but simply sighed, knowing how stubborn Louise can be. Taiki had since concluded that Louise must most likely be a Void Mage. Isn't she? They hadn't even tested the idea out, after all. Taiki simply shrugged and kept running, but was soon stopped when he found a mysterious carriage, with a weird cloaked man next to the coachman. Taiki immediately moved to a nearby wall, not too sure what to expect from this mysterious vehicle. And soon, he was face to face with one of the most stunning beauties that he saw in his whole stay in Halkeginia. Taiki immediately turned away from the girl and tried sneaking nearer. The two were not as attentive as you would expect.

"It is a wonder that we had not been spotted by anyone," the man muttered. The man quickly went to tend to the horses, muttering other nasty things that he had to say. Taiki looked at the man bemusedly. The man was obviously a commoner, but he had such animosity against the princess, that it practically hurt. Taiki sighed and turned to the girl.

"Thank you for your help, dear coachman." The girl had told the man as she walked off to the nearby. Taiki could see the Tiara on the girl's head and instantly knew that the girl was most likely the princess of the country who was expected to be one of the judges in the panel tomorrow. The question is: why is she here so early, and without guards? Taiki immediately followed the girl as she covered her head with a hood. Fouquet was still lurking around, and he was not going to chance anything in regards to the royals of this country. The girl looked around occasionally, which just brought a bemused expression on Taiki's face. And then Taiki saw something in the corner of his eye. An earth golem seemed to be standing near the same tower last night. Taiki knew he had to move. He immediately jumped on the princess and clamped his hand on her mouth.

* * *

**Henrietta**

* * *

"Thank you for your help, dear coachman."

Henrietta told the man as he pulled the carriage and the horses away. Henrietta smiled, knowing that the man did a big favor for her to ride without even a guard. She could make out the few mutters that she knew were complaints. But, right now, that wasn't the most important part. She needed to speak with Louise Francoise and hoped that she would not turn her away. She had not heard from the girl ever since she started schooling, and she was worried that their friendship was beginning to wane.

She immediately set off for the student dormitories. But soon, she heard a rustling sound from behind. She immediately spun around, wary of any assassins or spies. Gripping her princess scepter tightly, she did not relax at all when she saw no one. She warily continued to walk, looking around occasionally. She was about to round the corner when she suddenly found herself lying flat on the ground with a hand covering her mouth. The princess immediately struggled, but the intruder's strength did not budge. She can't chant like this to activate her magic, nor could she do anything against her capture. She immediately regretted doing something so foolish as said intruder dragged her away silently. She had one last shot. She prayed that the intruder was male and immediately aimed a strike between the boy's legs.

* * *

**Back To Taiki**

* * *

Taiki resisted the pain as he forced the still hooded princess down onto the ground. He didn't know how he was able to restrain himself from a stronger reaction but he chalked it up to adrenaline after seeing the earth golem. Taiki immediately turned to look at the site, to see the earth golem nowhere to be found. He then sighed and turned to the girl.

"That hurt!" He told the girl whose mouth he's still covering. "I was just trying to not alert Fouquet and you had to do that, didn't you?" This seemed to settle the girl down and Taiki immediately released the girl. Finally Taiki was free to comfort his own pains and immediately lay down as he writhed a bit in agony. He then felt a sort of soothe aura from somewhere and found that the princess was using her magic to heal him.

* * *

**Henrietta**

* * *

Huh? Fouquet? Was this boy on the trail of Fouquet and instead of assaulting her, was actually trying to protect her? She looked at the boy who was writhing on the ground and saw his strange appearance. His clothes were by no means normal. How did he make a shirt that didn't look like it was stitched, and yet had different colors was beyond her own knowledge. But then again, her knowledge mainly dealt with trade and politics. She sighed, knowing that this was her own fault and started casting a healing spell. The boy was soon looking at her with a slightly annoyed expression, before standing up.

"I guess we got off on the wrong foot there… Name's Taiki. And yours?"

"… Ann." This was her reply until Taiki was more forthcoming with information. "What did you mean by Fouquet?" Taiki immediately put his finger to his mouth and made a _sshhh_ sound, before he dragged Henrietta bodily to the nearby servant's quarters. She soon found herself in a bedroom, which the boy locked the door of. The boy motioned her to sit on the bed as he pulled the stool nearby and sat near the window.

"Sorry, can't let people know too much about it." Taiki apologized. "Ann, right? Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you." Henrietta nodded slightly. Taiki smiled and shrugged.

"I found an earth golem last night, with someone who seemed to be capable of extraordinary earth magic. This figure attacked me last night, and disappeared when I tried to fend it off. This morning, when I saw the earth golem, I saw you and panicked, thinking you might become a target if the figure spotted you."

"An Earth Golem… It sounds like something Fouquet WOULD be capable of making…" Henrietta nodded. "People have classed her as a Square, after all…" Now, Henrietta is convinced. Taiki seemed to be an honest person, and she at least has some pride in being able to read people. Taiki nodded, and turned to walk to the door. A questionable act as far as the girl was concerned.

"Where are you going?" Henrietta immediately stood up, and followed the boy.

"Oh, I was just going to see if the thief left anything behind." Taiki replied.

"Then I'll join you." Henrietta replied immediately. She had only taken the boy's word for it. She had yet to see any proof, and she would at least like that. Taiki nodded and opened the door, to find a very flustered maidservant.

* * *

**Siesta**

* * *

Was that a girl in Taiki's room? Was he… What's… Siesta couldn't even begin to think as she stood next to the door of Taiki's room. She even forgot what she was about to tell Taiki, regarding last night. She was too choked up to think straight. And when he opened it, she found her thoughts confirmed when the boy was followed by what appears to be a hooded curvy figure. The maid choked a bit, and felt tears in her eyes when Taiki immediately pulled her in the room. Taiki immediately closed the door, leaving the girl behind him confused.

"Siesta, this is someone I met earlier. I pulled her out when I thought I saw an Earth Golem in the courtyard. Can I ask you to feed her as I check the location?" This explanation immediately quelled any of Siesta's fears. Taiki was obviously not one to lie so easily, and he seemed to be incapable of thinking anything except another's welfare. But Siesta remained on guard around the girl, especially as she voiced her disdain in the idea.

"I told you I would join you in the investigation!" The girl had replied, but it seemed her stomach had other ideas as it growled slightly, but was still heard by the two. Siesta smiled with a wicked grin. Potential rival wasn't about to get any more affection points from Taiki. She nodded and dragged the protesting girl to the dining hall. Taiki ran by to grab a piece of bread and was soon out the door.

"I believe it's polite to remove your hood when you eat." Siesta looked on the girl who was tentatively biting into the meal. The girl shook her head and resumed eating, and now seemed to be in a hurry. Siesta noted that she probably wished to follow Taiki and Siesta quickly followed suit. The two finished at almost the exact time and the two immediately rushed out of the door and after Taiki.

* * *

**Taiki**

* * *

"This part of the grass seemed as though it was stomped on…" Taiki mumbled as he examined the creased part of the lawn. Enough proof for him at least. He started searching for anything else, hoping for a trinket or locket or anything, but it seemed as though there's none. Taiki endeavored to search for more and was soon face-to-face with two tired girls, one in a hood and the other in a maid outfit.

"It seemed that the golem WAS here." Taiki informed the two, pointing at the suspicious trails. "But it seems to disappear somewhere along here." He pointed at the wall. The hooded girl nodded and waved her scepter a bit.

"There appears to be a large amount of earth magic residue in the area." The girl nodded. "I don't know what that means, but it seems to support what we know of Fouquet." Siesta winced, nodding slightly. Knowing the girl was a noble was not amusing to her. She had been a bit oppressive to the girl, and her instincts dictate that she should've been a bit more courteous. But she also knew that the one she served was Taiki and King Shoutmon, not anyone else. She simply worked here as a maid, not as a slave. So she simply opted to remain neutral to the girl's status, as Taiki seemed fine with that.

"I guess we're not finding much of anything anymore… Well, I'm really hungry so I'll go eat…" Taiki sighed. "Siesta, if you see Fouquet again, please contact me with the wrister." Siesta nodded. Taiki turned to Ann. "Well, Ann, I suppose there is something that I interrupted when I pushed you on the ground?" Ann shook her head.

"I'll go to Principal Osmond first. If what you say is true, he should increase security in these parts. Whatever Fouquet wanted to steal, it's here."

"How did you come to conclude that?" Siesta asked.

"Taiki has told me of the incident last night and that it also happened here." Ann nodded. Siesta glared at Taiki, a bit angry at not knowing that particular piece of information. Taiki shrugged helplessly. Ann smiled at the two. "I'll go inform Osmond, and I'll meet you in that room you dragged me to, Taiki. Let's discuss this a bit more."

"Wouldn't you think that Osmond would've called for us as well?"

"No, I don't think so. My word has enough weight to get the man to tighten security." Ann shook her head. She turned to Siesta. "Siesta, correct? Can I ask you to go to the coachman at the stables and inform him not to announce my arrival just yet?" Siesta nodded and left.

"Well then, it's nice meeting you, Princess." Taiki nodded as he walked away, back to the Servant's Quarters. The hooded girl blanched a bit. _How did he know?_

* * *

**Fouquet**

* * *

"Those wards are as strong as that old codger said." Fouquet grumbled as she stood in her bedroom. She hadn't been able to enter the place as she expected. Magical attempts to enter was stopped, and so was Physical attempts. So how did she expect to get the item? There must be something destructive enough to be able to enter that place. Like the staff of destruction! Of course that's what she was trying to steal to begin with, why would that work? Frustrated, she finally fell on her bed, exhausted, not knowing of a meeting between Princess Henrietta and the Old Principal who had chosen to wake up early today for no foreseeable reason. Though a white mouse entering Longueville's room might have something to do with it.

* * *

**Henrietta**

* * *

She has convinced the principal to hide the fact that she is in the academy for now, and that the coachman was immediately sent back with a note to the castle. The coachman complained a bit, but since his gold pouch got heavier, he wasn't so frantic. The princess sighed, as she straightened her back and pulled on her hood. She rushed back to the servant's quarters, hoping to talk and maybe silence the two about her presence. Though she didn't think she would need to silence the two.

She soon found herself in the silent Servant's Quarters. She had taken the back entrance to hopefully avoid meeting with staff until he recognized the room that Taiki had pulled her in. She found herself back in the room, but neither Siesta nor Taiki were there. She sighed and collapsed in the bed. She didn't notice when the fatigue took over and she zoned onto a different land.

* * *

**Later**

* * *

Taiki sighed, as he stretched. He had finished the daily nursery things that he needed to worry about regarding his master. True, the girl has not demanded so much of his attention, but she DOES demand for at least some. Taiki, being Taiki, complied to her demands.

Taiki stretched, as he stood outside his door. Ann must be pretty impatient by now, as he opened the door to his own room. And to his surprise, he found a sleeping princess on the bed. Taiki grinned a bit and pulled the tiara off her head and placed it on the bedside table. He then adjusted the girl so that he can tuck her in the blankets. He pulled a set of keys from the desk drawer and put it in his pocket. He locked it for now, not wanting anyone to barge in and find the sleeping princess.

He then spent time in the kitchen practicing his song. And this song obviously got the commoners riled up and started working harder. Chef Marteau only grinned and thanked the boy for the morale booster. Taiki laughed and nodded, as he resumed practicing. Soon, the whole staff could at least sing the chorus with him, but they can't get through the rap part as easily. Taiki just laughed. And soon, lunchtime was upon them.

"I'll eat lunch in my room, may I?" Taiki asked the Chef. With a hearty laugh, a tray was allowed for Taiki to bring to his room. A tray of food for the nobles, which he brought directly to his room. Opening the door with the key, he was greeted by the still sleeping form of the princess.

Taiki idly wondered if sleeping was also an etiquette as the girl was still as immaculate as he left her. Was she trained to NOT move in her sleep? Taiki simply sighed, knowing that she'll need to wake soon. Locking the door, he contacted Siesta with his wrister to bring him food as well when she brings her own. He then turned to the sleeping princess.

"Hello, princess, wake up… you need to eat." The girl did not need telling twice, apparently, as she immediately arose and stood up, and with a somewhat rehearsed movement, righted herself.

"I'm sorry, it seems I fell asleep whilst… Oh, it's you, Taiki." Ann laughed a bit.

"Did you think you were at the castle?" Taiki asked with a grin. He then gestured to the tray of food and gave the meal to her. The princess gratefully took the tray and ate quietly. Taiki immediately took a seat nearby, waiting for Siesta.

"Sir Taiki, I believe you haven't been too forthcoming with information regarding your confrontation with Fouquet the Crumbling Dust." The princess said. "Clearly, a commoner who was somehow found by a mage would've been silenced immediately instead of being able to escape?" She turned eagerly in Taiki's direction. "How did you throw off Fouquet?"

"I don't really know myself…" Taiki laughed a bit. "I had my sword out at the time, and the familiar runes on my left hand gives me a certain boost when I hold on a weapon. I guess that's why it doesn't-" He was stopped with a clatter of the utensils. Taiki turned to look at her with a questioning glance.

"Familiar Runes? And most importantly, on your left hand? And when you hold a weapon, it gives you a power boost?"

Taiki merely nodded, showing the teen princess the symbol that marked him as a familiar. The princess gasped slightly. Taiki looked at her with a bemused expression.

"I don't think that you need to be so uptight about protocol while you are here, dear princess." Taiki grinned, "I'm not one of your subjects, but I can most assuredly be a friend."

"… That sounds like Gandalfr… A legendary familiar…" Taiki blinked at the term legendary until the young princess put her tray to the side and knelt to him, as though he was a king. Taiki gagged a bit at this treatment.

"Lord Familiar… I am Princess Henrietta de Tristain, heir apparent to the throne of my father, the King of Tristain. I am sorry for what has happened earlier when you tried to keep me out of danger." The girl asked, looking on his face as though in some shame.

Taiki shook his head quickly. "Henrietta?" When the princess made no move to correct him for using her first name, he continued. "Okay… Henrietta, I forgive you, but please stand, 'cause I seriously have no clue what you are trying to say to me."

"Surely you know?" Henrietta gasped, "The fact that you are the Shield of God, the Legendary Gandalfr shouldn't have escaped the principal's notice!"

"I only figured out my powers recently, Henrietta. And considering your station, I think you'd want to not be seen kneeling to what everyone, including my master, calls a commoner." Henrietta relented, standing and returning to the bed to resume eating.

An uncomfortable silence dredged up the atmosphere as Henrietta seemed to fidget with herself.

"Lord Familiar…" Taiki raised his hand to silence the girl.

"Taiki. Kudou Taiki." Taiki told her immediately. "I let you use my first name already, Henrietta. You don't need to revert." Henrietta recoiled slightly at being reprimanded but continued with what she wished to say.

"Lord Fami-" An exasperated look from Taiki made her instantly revert, "Taiki, can I ask who your master is?"

"Uh… Louise Francoise de la Valliere…" Taiki replied, confident in his answer, when another clatter of utensils fell on Henrietta's tray. Taiki looked at her in alarm.

"To think that… No. That doesn't matter for now." Henrietta shook her head, as she breathed a bit.

"Can you tell me more about Gandalfr, Henrietta?" Taiki swore he was still tripping across her name. To Taiki, this was a very cumbersome name. A-n-ri-e-ta. Writing down her name sounds like a pretty difficult thing to do, and Taiki wondered if he could return to calling her by her nickname when someone knocked on her door.

"Taiki, I brought you food."

Taiki sighed, as he turned to Henrietta. She looked as though ready to divulge the details, until Siesta showed up. Taiki stretched and wordlessly made his apology and walked to the door to allow the girl in.

* * *

**Siesta**

* * *

Balancing the tray of food in her hand carefully, she sighed a bit. Two portions of staff meal were all she can get today. The staff seemed to think that Taiki had just taken a meal of his own to his room. But Siesta knew that the one who was most likely to be given said meal is that noble girl that Taiki recently picked up. Knowing that she can't really fault Taiki, she made it a point to just ignore the two's ramblings and just rapped her free hand on the door.

And naturally, she almost dropped the tray when Taiki opened the door. For who sat on the bed was none other than Princess Henrietta de Tristain, the princess and heir to the throne of Tristain. She gasped a bit as Taiki took the tray and she automatically bowed down. Taiki looked blankly at her and shrugged at the sight. He immediately closed the door as Siesta stood and took her own meal from the tray.

"My, my… this is quite a strange sight." Derf cackled from his scabbard in his corner. "The heir to the throne, a maid, and a knight in strange armor! All in one place."

"Let's not forget the sword wielded by legends, Lord Derflinger." Taiki grinned. The sword gave a sound of affirmation and laughed with him, as Taiki scooped mouthfuls of the meal into his mouth, without much care for manners, unlike the other two human

"The sword speaks?" Henrietta blankly stared at the blade.

"And can woo girls better than partner here too!"

"Taiki doesn't need to woo girls, Lord Derflinger." Siesta laughed, then remembered the presence of the princess in the room. She quickly went quiet, but Taiki didn't seem to mind.

"So Henrietta," Siesta reeled in shock in hearing how casually the boy calls the princess, "what are the current arrangements? I mean, you're the princess. Shouldn't you be announced?"

"Everyone will be under the impression that I will be arriving tomorrow. I sent my carriage back and informed them of Fouquet's possible involvement in this area. As we didn't want to alert anyone, only five people knows of my presence here. The coachman, the principal, and the rest are in this room."

"It would be best if we could guess what the thief is after." Taiki shrugged, "If we learned that, we could simply avoid the worse of anything."

"The principal believes that Fouquet is after the Staff of Destruction." Henrietta replied. Seeing the confused looks on the two, she explained. "The Staff of Destruction is a magical object that is supposedly able to defeat even dragons with a single strike." Taiki grimaced at the idea of such a powerful weapon. That magic must be really destructive.

"But aren't dragons resistant to magic?" Siesta asked, "That must be a very powerful object…"

"It truly is. People have tried to understand how the staff works, but the only one to ever use it has passed away from an illness we knew naught. I wonder what use the item would be to Fouquet."

"… So Fouquet's objective's unknown. What we do know is that she wants to steal something. And that something is in this very same academy. And it is likely that it is that staff of destruction…" Taiki just sighed as they didn't get all that far with the Fouquet case. So he decided to pursue a different topic. "Henrietta, please explain to me what is a Gandalfr?" Both girls jerked out of their stupors, and looked at him incredulously. When it looked like he wasn't going to budge, Siesta decided to plainly reply.

"Gandalfr is one of the four legendary familiars of Founder Brimir. Represents Brimir's Left Hand, and is known as the Shield of God. Gandalfr is said to wield a spear in one hand and a sword in the other."

Here Henrietta picked up the pace, "However, Gandalfr didn't just use those weapons. If he held any weapon in his hands, he can rise to any challenge. When Brimir was in danger, Gandalfr was always first to know." Siesta nodded slightly.

"Why did you want to know?" To Siesta's question, Taiki merely showed his left hand, proving Henrietta's suspicions. "You believe yourself Gandalfr? But that would make your Master a Void Mage, like Founder Brimir!"

"And she still doesn't believe me when I told her she could be one." Taiki laughed.

"The Valliere's ARE linked to the blood of royalty, Taiki. It's not far off from the mark." Henrietta mumbled.

"What do we expect from that close-minded fool?" Wisemon mumbled only loudly enough for Taiki to hear. Taiki sighed in an apologetic manner. Wisemon kept shut after that. The whole Xros Loader group seemed more interested listening instead of talking anyway. And they'd rather not tell people about Xros Heart until absolutely necessary.

"Fouquet won't try anything in the daytime when there might be a few young nobles walking around." Siesta shrugged, "So this is a moot discussion until later at night."

"Lord Taiki, it would be of help if you would capture Fouquet before I officially arrive in the academe." Henrietta told him.

"I know, Ann." Henrietta flustered when Taiki once more called her by the pseudonym that she used for herself. Siesta herself looked shocked on how casual Taiki can be to a royal. Then she reminded herself that Shoutmon himself was a royal and he was probably not used to speaking formally. But she wasn't about to venture out and point that out. No matter how casual Taiki is, he's still her master. So she decided to just make a suggestion.

"Taiki, shouldn't we ask the White Pickmon tonight to scout out who Fouquet is?" Siesta ventured out. Taiki turned and nodded. And now, she somewhat smiled as the princess looked confused on the topic.

"Maybe I should use the Monitamons instead though." Taiki shrugged.

"Taiki, you can barely [Reload] PawnChessmon. You won't be able to [Reload] three Monitamons." Derf rebuked him. Taiki nodded and sighed. That wasn't something he wanted to think about really.

"You need to DigiXros with Shoutmon tomorrow to be able to perform. So you shouldn't waste too much energy keeping three Monitamons out and about." Siesta told him. She didn't know whether she was out of bounds with what she is saying, but at least Taiki seemed to accept her logic.

Taiki grinned and nodded. "Thanks. I usually need a reminder on my limits sometimes. Okay, I'll let the White Pickmons scout."

"Umm… I do not know what you are speaking of, but I sincerely hope that you would be able to handle things, Lord Taiki." Henrietta nodded.

"Oh, stop adding Lord to my name. It's embarrassing… Taiki is fine. After all, aren't we friends?" Henrietta recoiled slightly at this response. She nodded slightly and smiled.

"Very well, Taiki. You can call me Henrietta, or Ann for short when we are talking in private. But it would be best if you still referred to me as Princess when you meet me in public."

"Where would you be sleeping, Princess?" Derf asked the girl.

"I… I would think that Osmond would have some plan in mind, but I couldn't truly fault him if there's none. And I have no idea as to how I would contact him without bringing attention to myself." Taiki pondered on that for a bit, and nodded.

"I guess the next course of action would be to speak with Osmond." Taiki stretched. "I'll handle that, while you will remain in this room. Siesta, please act like everything's normal. I still need you to keep an eye on anything unusual." Siesta nodded, and brought the trays out of the door. Taiki moved as well, leaving the Princess to stare blankly, not knowing what she should do whilst she waited. Looking at a book that was nearby, she pulled it and tried to read it. And didn't understand a single thing in it.

"… I think I should keep him being Gandalfr a secret for now. At least, until he tells me most of the secrets he hides." Closing that book, she placed it back on the table and decided she should just practice a bit of her magic instead.

* * *

**Taiki**

* * *

Taiki walked purposefully to the doors of the principal. And when she walked she eventually found someone that he did not expect to see. A woman, with green hair, who was walking with a book enclosed in her hands. The woman then saw him, and seemed to automatically recoil at sight. The woman then left immediately, in the opposite direction of Taiki. Taiki thought a bit and muttered.

"White Pickmon, [Reload]." Sending a Chibickmon in the direction of the woman, he prayed and hoped that his suspicions are wrong.

He knocked on the principal's door, but he received no response. He knocked a second time, and nothing changed. He once more knocked and he groaned slightly as he finally just tried the door instead. He soon found no one in the room. Taiki was on the verge of cursing, but kept his own manner in check. He walked back out and closed the door. And he was soon face to face with an old man.

"… Are you supposed to be Professor Dumbledore?" Taiki asked with a bit of amusement. The man laughed a bit.

"Oh no, I'm Principal Osmond. And there is no one by the name of Dumbledore in these halls. Now, what would the familiar of Louise de la Valliere want with me?"

"It's best if we speak in a quieter area. It is regarding the guest that has appeared this morning." The principal shot a look at the boy and nodded. Opening the door of his office, he ushered the boy in. Locking the door, he casted several silencing spells on the walls of his room. He also added an intruder charm in front of the doors. He briefly pulled out a white mouse from his pocket and had it search the room for anything out of the ordinary.

"So what is the news regarding the princess?"

"She is currently staying in my room at the servant quarters, and she would want to know anything about her sleeping arrangements for tonight."

"Indeed, you have the princess of your own age, in your room, you say?" Osmond chuckled, impressed at the boy's self-control. "It would be best if we don't alert anyone of her current presence. I've already started the preparations for her sleeping quarters this morning, but it would be best if she doesn't sleep there yet, especially with Fouquet on the loose. How about her meals? Is she eating well enough?"

"Siesta is currently employed here as a maid, but her contract is under me, so I should be able to supply her well with food. Oh, I remembered, I still haven't thanked you for re-accepting Siesta's application."

"Oh no worries." The old man laughed. "Miss Valliere's Familiar is basically royalty, considering your status as… Oh, I shouldn't have said that."

"If you're speaking about my being Gandalfr, I already know." Taiki replied. "Also, I would like to point out that the reason why my master is constantly failing spells is most likely because she is a Void Mage like Brimir."

"Indeed." The man nodded. "And true enough, I believe you are right. However, there is no one in these halls that could teach the girl how to use Void Magic, so I can't really help her cultivate her ability…"

"Well, it would be best if you informed her parents and my master about it at least, as she seems to be regarded as a failure for not being able to cast simple spells."

"Oh, she is not a failure, dear Gandalfr. She is more or less the top in all her classes besides those dealing with magic. She has a good handle in politics, and she has a surprising aptitude in the non-magic field. But, if you think it is better, I believe I shall inform her as soon as possible." He then walked to a nearby table and stood to walk out the door.

"Wait, what about A… the princess's room?" The man turned around and thought.

"Can you accommodate her for the night, Gandalfr? It would be an honor if you would."

"I guess I'll set up the sleeping bag outside tonight." Taiki nodded.

"No, Gandalfr. Fouquet would be wary of your presence if he learns of your plan to sleep outside. You might even cause him to be wary by simply sleeping in a different location. Also, you might find it difficult to bring the princess in and out of the maid's quarters. Your quarters are closer to the backdoor, yes? The maid's rooms are on the second floor, and I don't doubt you might get a few too many gossipy hens there. I suggest you simply allow her to stay in your room, and just promise us not to touch our princess." Taiki nodded slightly. For the princess's sake, he was okay with leaving the bed to her and just sleep on the floor. "Also, now that I think about it, let's keep Miss Valliere's Void heritage a secret a bit longer. I hope that she would be a bit more mature so that she doesn't brag about her magic and cause undue problems."

"What do you mean?"

"Gandalfr, you do understand that Miss Valliere's pride has been trodden on so many times, that the moment you tell her, she might brag about it. And… Brimir's Void magic is something of a legend. I don't want idiots from the capital experimenting on her. No human should be subject to that."

"In other words, you want her to accept her magic more responsibly before she says anything."

"Though I do believe that a single word from our princess would automatically silence her, it would be best if she takes this easily. In the meantime, I'll inform all the teachers to never call upon Miss Valliere to perform magic. And also to not grade her for using magic." And with this, the two left the room. Osmond took off all the spells he placed and with a satisfied smile briskly walked away.

* * *

**Taiki's Room**

* * *

"… and so, Ann, you will be staying here in my room for tonight only." Taiki summarized. The girl nodded. Siesta was currently out serving tea to the nobles, and he himself was currently brewing something for the princess. Taiki passed the drink to Henrietta, which she took thankfully.

"Thank you, Taiki. And uh… Taiki, can I ask you for one of those 'wristers'? I think it would be best if we would be able to establish contact when it is necessary." Taiki thought silently for a bit and nodded. Pulling out his Xros Loader, he muttered something to it and the item was [Reloaded] into the world. He gave the object to the girl, and wrapped it on her wrist. The girl took an interest in studying the item, when she suddenly noticed the mark on the item. A face that seemed to glare at a person. And more importantly, the item was as red as the flag that was seen.

"… Taiki… what does this mark mean?"

* * *

**Chapter End**

* * *

LW: Okay, I should just stop informing people of the title of next chapter. I always get sidetracked and now, I'm in a totally different scenario.

Taiki: Well, at least we know what's happening next. Fouquet's plan, Henrietta learning of Xros Heart, and finally, would Henrietta join Xros Heart? Find out on the next chapter!

Red Monitamons: No new updates regarding zones.

LW: Okay! Then to all who reads this chapter, this is my overall longest chapter to date, and I would appreciate it if you would review this chapter for me~ And also, for those who have seen the prologue chapter, Kirche's Digital Flame Salamander, please know that I do not plan on continuing that story. XPotF is a bit of a favorite, and having two stories set with the same world and different characters is not fun. So know that KDFS is now up for adoption. Thank you.


	8. First Fault of the General!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

* * *

**The First Fault of the General**

* * *

Quiet filled the room as Taiki considered what just happened. Why is Ann glaring at him so intensely, simply by seeing the mark of Xros Heart imprinted on the wrister? More importantly, why does she even know the mark of Xros Heart?

"Taiki, may I ask once more? What does this mark mean?" She was really trying to bore a hole through Taiki, with the way she glared at him. As cold sweat overtook his body, Taiki's thoughts frantically tried to think about it. What should he say? The truth. There is nothing else Taiki could tell her. He wasn't a habitual liar nor does he plan to be a liar. Taiki shook his head and looked at her with a straight face. It faltered soon enough anyway when he struggled to find a good answer.

"That… is the mark of the Xros Heart Army."

"The Xros Heart Army? What is this army?"

"… It is an army that serves as the main strike force of King Shoutmon."

"King Shoutmon, you say? And who is this King Shoutmon? And what does the Xros Heart Army have to do with you?" Taiki looked blankly at her and decided to tell her everything. The existence of another world, the founding of Xros Heart, up to and including the fact that he was the main advisor and also general of this army. He even mentioned the Xros Wars as a side note. Through all this, Henrietta listened carefully, piecing the information wordlessly, not wanting to interrupt. Taiki soon said no more, having just basically told the young Princess everything that he has told the staff. A few minutes of quiet fell between them, and the two merely looked at each other, studying what the other will do. Soon, Henrietta broke the peace.

"… And? What is your goal, Taiki? Conquer Tristain as well?" Henrietta asked carefully. She almost wished she hadn't wasted so much magic earlier practicing, as she was now recovering her willpower. If that was Taiki's goal, she would have to fight him. However, she was soon shocked a bit as Taiki merely shook his head and grinned.

"Like I told the staff earlier, I don't want to start a rebellion. And most importantly, I want to be your friend, Ann." Henrietta faltered once more at how casual the boy could be, as he grinned and held out his hand. Henrietta looked at the hand and slowly reached for it. She shook it slightly and felt a smile tugging at her lips. She looked in wonder at the boy who changed her perception. Rebels are what is causing Prince Wales to be hunted, and yet it was a rebel leader who would save her from a

"If only the rebels of Albion were just like this…" Henrietta muttered sadly. Taiki noticed this and simply smiled. He didn't know how to comfort the girl and he simply sighed and looked away.

"Hey, Ann. Why do you even recognize the mark? Xros Heart isn't supposed to be well-known in Halkeginia…"

"Did you not know?" Henrietta looked at the boy in amusement, as she plucked her tiara from her head and played with it daintily. "A strange red flag, bearing your mark has been flying in the southern lands of Tristain."

"Wha? I…" Henrietta looked at the boy with mild amusement, as he started panicking slightly. She decided to give him a bit of mercy.

"The flag's gone now, but it caused quite a startle among people from the southern quarters." Henrietta laughed a bit, as Taiki finally calmed down slightly, as he contemplated the thought. He pulled out his Xros Loader, as Henrietta learned to call it, and brought it to his ear for a bit.

"… Taiki, it is probably when we recovered the zone…" An unknown voice whispered to Taiki.

"Well… At the very least, the flag… might have something to do with the fact that I visited the land sometime ago…" Henrietta nodded slightly. So Taiki was the boy that came saving a maidservant, most likely Siesta. She then saw that Taiki seemed to be about to add something. "And… I may have been given an object which pretty much meant that its holder would be the owner of that land." Henrietta's gaze hardened and looked upon the boy with a resolute glare.

"And this item is where?"

Taiki shook his head as a response. "Sorry, Ann, but that is something I can't tell you."

"That land is under the ownership of the monarchy of Tristain." Henrietta snapped, her tiara once more in her hand. "You cannot just take an item away from us if it meant that ownership shall fall under another king, in this case, King Shoutmon!"

"And I'm not!" Taiki shouted back. "Look, you guys still own the land. Considering that people don't really think of the Code Crown as a symbol of power and kingship, I cannot just go and claim that the southern area is mine since no one in this world should even know what having a Code Crown entails!"

"Then hand it over." Henrietta replied coolly, thrusting her hand forward to receive the object.

"… Sorry, Ann, but it doesn't work that way. I'm afraid you will have to fight me for the Code Crown." Taiki shook his head. Henrietta glared slightly. Taiki knew that the Digimon wouldn't relinquish the Code Crown, and took that as a very huge offense. A few protests cried from the Xros Loader, but Taiki ignored them for the most part.

"Then let us fight, Taiki. If I win, you will hand over the Code Crown."

"No."

"NO?! Why ever not?! Are you trying to get away from me!?" Henrietta yelled, raising her scepter. Taiki knew it was dangerous and immediately tackled her down onto the bed. He struggled to keep the scepter away from her. Henrietta struggled, as she tried to get the words out. "No! Let me go, let me go!"

"I can't give it to you, Ann! I don't want to have to fight you in a scuffle for the Code Crowns! I want to be your friend, not someone to try and fight your sovereignty! And… if you do fight me, I don't want to end up hurting you… I can't! Ann, I want to give you the Code Crown, but I know you don't have a place to keep it safe in! I mean, I'm willing to bet your country has yet to find your own Capital's Code Crown!" Henrietta stopped struggling at that, but her glare was still there, though tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"… I… You just don't understand Taiki!" Henrietta yelled at him, as she punched his shirt. "I… I want to at least be useful to this country, before I… before I… have to marry the emperor of Germania… I want to at least…" Henrietta turned away, pushing the boy away. "Go, Taiki. Leave me be for a few hours… Just come back as per agreement." Taiki nodded and walked away.

* * *

_Why can't Taiki understand?_ Henrietta cried quietly. To Henrietta, Taiki had just stolen away what felt like her own power as a princess, as a monarch. A symbol of power over a realm, and it was in the hands of a foreign child. And not only that, a foreign general of an army led by another king. True, the Code Crown meant nothing to the people of the country, but it was a very big thing for its monarchy.

Tristain has always been regarded as having a weak government, even by its own townspeople. The monarch holds the staff, but they are only the face of the government, mere puppets to the machinations of the bishop. While these are rumors circulated even within its capital, no one knew how true it was. The bishop was the primary advisor of the king, and soon, herself. Though she is Crown Princess, her father was advised to marry her off to the emperor of Germania to establish relations. Henrietta merely saw this as absurd. Germania was the barbarian country, but it could easily overpower Tristain in a fight. The fact that the emperor of Germania will marry the Crown Princess meant that Germania will ingratiate their government into Tristanian affairs, and making them little more than an extension of Germania herself. But this was final, and they could do nothing about it. And her only true regret about this arrangement is that she was not able to accomplish the things she wanted to do, which are: 1) Fix the problems that can be seen in the Tristanian society and 2) Marry the boy she loved.

How she wished to do the second on the list, she did not know, but all she knew is that it is a strong desire, enough to make her wanting for her beloved Prince Wales to once more send a letter to her. She shook her head, as she looked out of the window. She had originally came here, not to watch the Familiar Evaluation Fair, but to ask for the help of her best friend and confidante, Louise Francoise, to aid her to deliver a message to the young prince, also enlisting the help of the lead of the griffin knights, Sir Wardes, but now she was engrossed in a tale to fight against Fouquet, which might once more prove the ability of the royals, albeit in a weird way. And now, she learnt of Code Crowns. Crowns that inherited the spirit of sovereignty, or at least, that's how she understood it.

"Taiki… you jerk."

* * *

"Why? Why was Ann so upset?" Taiki nearly yelled as he walked towards the halls, to meet with his master. His master was best friend's with Louise, right? Maybe she could shed some light on the subject. Taiki wondered how she could probably weasel the topic in. He stood in front of the door leading to his master's room, but he hesitated to knock. How would his master react if he told the girl about the princess in his room? No. It is best if the girl would still be in the dark until tomorrow.

"Hey, Familiar." Taiki's eyes jerked towards the master he hasn't seen in a while. "Where have you been this whole time?" Louise raised her eyes on the young General, who simply contented himself by smiling at her. Louise

"Yo, Louise. I was just practicing what I would be doing tomorrow."

"You better. A message was sent earlier that the princess will be watching the event closely tomorrow, and I do not want to be embarrassed. So what will you be doing? Reload?"

"I'm going to sing."

"Huh? Sing? Well, step inside my room and let me hear." Louise brushed past him. She pulled out her key and unlocked the door. Swinging it open, she marched to her bed, and sat on her bed. "I only got 15 minutes. Tell me what you have planned." Taiki nodded and told her his plan. He also sung the piece that he would be singing.

"Can't you change it? It's too fast and I could hardly pay attention to what you are saying." Louise complained. Taiki shrugged and sang another song. But as soon as he finished the first verse…

"NO! Rebellion! You think we would allow that?" Louise scolded. "Don't you know any other songs? Something slow? How about…" Louise listed off a bunch of songs, all of which Taiki shook his head.

"Urgh… fine, sing the first song. So how about the music?" Taiki pulled out his Xros Loader.

"This will play the necessary sounds for the music.

"Music… I can ask the teacher to use magic to echo the music you need across the yard, but is that all? Can't you play any of the musical instruments there?"

"I can probably play a guitar, but I don't think I'll find one on such short notice. And I'd like to concentrate on singing really." Taiki grinned. Then he thought for a bit. "Hey… What kind of princess is the Princess of Tristain?"

"Why do you ask that?" Louise asked sharply. Taiki sheepishly shrugged and looked away.

"I might be able to find a way to please her if you told me…" Louise thought on that for a bit but then shook her head.

"No." Louise glared. "I don't want to cheat and be favored by the Princess because of my connection to her. I had the honor of being her playmate when I was young, but I do not want people to know that she is connected to a failure like me."

"LOUISE!" Taiki yelled. "You are not a failure. You just… Can't you consider the fact that you MIGHT be a Void Mage for one second?" Louise just looked incredulously at Taiki.

"How can I be a Void Mage? Void Magic is now Lost, Taiki! There's no way I am a Void Mage! Now I need to return to class." Louise grumbled and walked away in a huff. "I'll be able to cast magic, just you wait!" Taiki sighed as he watched the girl pack up her books and walk out the door. He stretched on the bed, and then stood up. Fixing the bed, he exited the room, only to go face to face with a certain dark-skinned, red-head.

"Mikey-darling~" Kirche grinned as she hugged the boy. Then she moved away and pouted. "Why are you not wearing my sword, and yet wear that dingy old blade?" Taiki laughed. Taiki looked behind her to see the Gallian Tabitha and her staff.

"I like Derf very much, Kirche, but thank you for the gift anyway. If I was trained to dual wield and if Derf wasn't so heavy, I might've used it as well." Taiki wasn't so sure about that, but he at least needed to console the girl. No point antagonizing everyone. Then Taiki thought a bit. Kirche was a Germanian. Maybe… Just maybe… she could shed some light with the help of Tabitha on the matter of the princess.

"Hey, Kirche, Tabitha, the princess of Tristain is going to be watching the Familiar Evaluation Fair tomorrow, right?"

"I heard so." Kirche shrugged. Tabitha nodded in reply. Then Kirche shrugged. "Pfft. Princess. Right, like she's can even be considered one." Taiki's fist clenched tightly at how Kirche is badmouthing his friend. But he could use to know how people thought about her. "She's just a pretty face for the government. You know something? Apparently it's the bishop of this country who holds true power. And bishops answer to Romania, right? And now, I heard talk that said princess would be wed off to the Emperor of my country. The fact that they could so easily offer up their heir to the throne to my country is just proof of how weak the government of Tristain is. I think she's- What is it, Tabitha?"

"Too far." Tabitha simply said. Kirche raised her eyebrow and turned to Taiki. Taiki's face was still neutral, but Kirche's eyes turned to his hand. It looked as though blood just started flowing through it.

"Huh… Oh, sorry about that. You DO have a Tristainian Master, so I apologize for being so forward." Kirche shrugged, as though she really isn't sorry, but needed to say it. "But why would you be so worried about her?" Kirche smirked a bit, "But oh, Mikey-darling, do you happen to like the princess? With your status as the trusted advisor of your king, you might actually succeed if only she wasn't promised to be wed to my Emperor."

"Huh? How did you know!?" Taiki's face blanched at what she just said.

"Your master doesn't exactly have a tight lip, Mikey~." Kirche smiled wryly, "Anyway, most people in the class just though she was bluffing. I mean, you don't wear a cloak, after all. But now you confirmed it yourself. So that means you really are the General of that king's army, huh? Kyah! You are definitely a noble if that is the case!"

"Nope." Taiki replied coolly. "I'm a noble only when I'm near my king, but where I come from, I'm just a kid on the street who still hasn't decided on what he wants to do in college." Taiki sighed and decided to accept the fact that people will still recognize him as a noble. At the very least, he at least had the respect of both commoners and nobles.

"So where is the symbol of your station, Taiki?" Kirche asked. "I mean, you do have one right?" Taiki smiled a bit and laughed.

"This shirt." Taiki replied, pointing at the crown shirt he was currently wearing. "The crown on my shirt symbolizes what I did for my king." Kirche gasped.

"Oh my! So that shirt was the symbol of your station all along! I'm sorry to not have realized that~" Kirche grinned. "A crown on your shirt, but you have another shirt. The one with the weird symbol on it."

"The crown shirt symbolizes my Advisor role." Taiki replied. "The symbol on my other shirt is the coat of arms of King Shoutmon. It's my shirt when I fought against the Seven Dark Generals." Taiki didn't know if he should've mentioned the Seven Dark Generals to them, but he just shrugged as there was no point in taking back what he just said.

"So that shirt is what you wear in your General Role! I see that explains everything!" She then stalked away. "Well, I have to get to class. See you around, Mikey-darling!" After blowing a kiss, she walked away. Taiki sighed, not knowing what to do anymore. Taiki then felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he was face to face with Tabitha. Her staff was pointed at him.

"Princess. Where?" Taiki pondered on whether he should tell the girl. He decided against it.

"Safe." Tabitha's stoic face didn't change, but her hands tensed a bit and she jabbed her staff slightly on his crown shirt. Taiki cringed. Taiki looked around. "Not here." Tabitha nodded. "Later, my room in the servant's quarters." Tabitha thought and nodded. She walked away, following her friend, Kirche.

So now, he was alone in the halls. There was no one else, there. Only the three had passed by. Taiki sighed slightly, as he pulled out the White Pickmon in his pocket.

"What's the status of Chibickmon?" White pondered on that for a bit, before it gave a shake of the head. Taiki sighed. No new developments. He pocketed White for a bit. Taiki sighed and walked out the doorway. He soon spotted Sylphid. He decided to play with the dragon for a bit, as he pondered on what happened earlier.

"Why was Ann so upset with me?" He asked out loud. Sylphid kyuued, tilting her head to the side. She didn't understand the question. He shook his head and laughed. "I wasn't asking you, Sylphid. I was asking the sky." Taiki grinned as Sylphid looked shocked for a bit and quieted and perked her ears as if trying to hear if the sky answered back.

"Maybe it's because we basically stole her land from right beneath her feet?" A familiar voice then spoke. Sylphid kyuued as if hearing something she didn't expect. She looked up at the sky, but she then turned her head towards Taiki.

"Shoutmon! It's been a while."

"Yeah, Taiki. Got the music, finally! Then all you need to do is ask a teacher to broadcast the music across the whole courtyard." Shoutmon grinned. "But, Taiki. You really don't know much about politics do you?"

"… What do you mean, Shoutmon?" However, it was not Shoutmon who answered; it was Wisemon.

"I heard what Zerbst said about the monarchs of this country. It's obvious that, though they are well-loved, they are also severely underestimated by the other countries."

"There are things that symbolizes a state, Taiki, and these are: The Government, The Territory, the Population, and their Sovereignty. In Tristain however, their Government and Sovereignty is underestimated by their peers. Nothing notable can be really be said about the Population."

"And now," Shoutmon sighed, "Taiki, you just stole right from under her nose part of the Territory she was entrusted with. And this is something that she can't just let slide. Taiki. Oi, Taiki, talk to me!"

* * *

Henrietta's head was still buried on Taiki's now messy bed. She could hardly care less though. This was one of the few places she thought it was fine to let her heart out, oddly enough as this is the place where she was hurt the most. She thought silently as the door creaked. She just shrugged and turned over in the bed. What she didn't expect was:

"… Ann." Henrietta's eyes jerked towards the door to find Taiki. Her eyes jerked to the window to see the moonlight shine through the window. Truly, one of the better rooms in the servant's quarters. She pulled her face away from the window and went back to the boy who was standing, as though hesitating. She grew up studying stances, to understand how a person thinks and acts, and Taiki basically told her he was unsure on what he was about to do. "… We can fight now."

"Huh?" To say that she was confused was an understatement. Taiki was definitely giving off the vibe that he didn't want anything to do with fighting her, but he seemed determined to let that out into the wind. "… Why the sudden change?" Taiki smiled, a bit sadly.

"I… I didn't know… I didn't know that you were… No. That's not what you want to hear, is it?" Taiki stood up. "Let's take a walk into the night. There's a place a bit ways back, but I think it would be best. If you win this, I'll give you the Code Crown, no strings attached."

"… I accept that." Henrietta nodded, looking at Taiki, still confused at his sudden change of heart.

"I realized that… I was taking your world away from you. I couldn't really keep the Code Crown for myself really. It wouldn't be right. So I decided that, since you are the ruling monarch of the land the Code Crown came from, I want you to get a fair chance." Henrietta nodded fiercely. She didn't bother correcting him about being the ruling monarch, the chance was much too difficult to come by.

"What if I lose though?" Henrietta asked suddenly, realizing something, as she stood from the bed. "You chose what would happen if I was to win. So now, I'll decide as to what will happen if you were to win. And my choice is this. I will join Xros Heart. Maybe as a maid or something, but I will join you." Taiki immediately looked shocked.

"Ann! You're the princess of this country! Xros Heart is the personal army of a King of another world! You can't possibly… No. I cannot accept that." Henrietta glared slightly.

"Well, deal with it." Henrietta shouted angrily. "I will take back my territory from you, Taiki."

"Then we fight. And fight we shall." Taiki nodded, "However, Shoutmon does have his pride. That means I won't go easy on you."

"Then I won't go easy on you either."

"Very well, our duel shall be on Vestri Court, on midnight. Rest up, and I'll help smuggle you out later." Henrietta nodded. "I'll also stay here to show that I am not making traps."

"Also, Ann." Taiki sighed, "Can you give back my wrister?" Henrietta jerked her head, with a questioning look. "Wristers are only for registered members of Xros Heart." Taiki laughed, as Henrietta merely glared further. "And you will have to wait for yours once I defeat you." Henrietta glared worse and then smiled a bit, and pulled a cocky face that she's seen many others do before.

"Oh no, Taiki. I think the one who should be afraid among us is you! Because I'll be getting the Code Crown, and since you are the familiar of my best friend, my servant as well~" The two laughed merrily into the night, and soon quiet engulfed them, though this time, it was a very comforting silence. They sighed contentedly. Taiki grinned and pulled out his Xros Loader. Thank goodness that Shoutmon decided to put all sorts of random stuff in the Xros Loader. Never thought that being able to [Reload] a futon would be so useful! He then prepared the bed, as he is watched under the interested eye of Henrietta.

"Taiki, you seem to be quite used to sleeping on the floor, huh?"

"Well, where I come from, when you go for sleepovers in your friend's houses, you tend to learn." Taiki grinned, "And anyway, I find this much more comfortable than that bed." Taiki laughed, as Henrietta looked affronted.

"So you allow the lady to sleep on the less comfortable bed, huh? Shows how much of a gentleman you are." Henrietta mock pouted. Taiki's face blanched after she said that, forcing her to need to suppress a grin.

"Well… I suppose I can pull out another futon for you to prop onto your bed…" Taiki sweatdropped slightly, hoping to be in her good books again. Henrietta nodded, laughing, moving over, for Taiki to [Reload] another futon for her to sleep in. Henrietta was soon comfortably asleep in the bed, and Taiki laughed slightly, walking onto his futon and sitting on top of it. He pulled out his Xros Loader.

"… What time is it?" He asked whoever was still awake in the Xros Loader.

"10:13…" Dondokomon's sleepy voice blurred through. Taiki nodded. He sighed, pulling out his cellphone. It was completely out of battery now, so he shook his head, and hoped that an alarm clock was among the things he can [Reload]. He lay down on his futon, idly browsing through his Xros Loader. And soon enough, he drifted into sleep.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

* * *

"Huh? What is this?" A boy, age no higher than 20, stood in front of an altar. In his hands was a box, containing an odd item. A yellow shard, with an odd shaped item inside. The boy took the object and placed it in his pocket, unknowingly, conquering the zone.

* * *

**Another Location**

* * *

"Boss, we have taken the Code Crown of the Seas south of Romania!" The minion walked over and handed a yellow shard to his boss. It floated over to the mysterious figure.

"Excellent work." The man said, pleased. "Your group is allowed a vacation of one week, as your reward."

"Thank you for your generosity, Lord…" Whatever praise to him was lost, as he toyed with the Code Crown in his hands. This will be most interesting. He looked on his map to see the Red Army's only territory blinking rapidly.

'Someone challenged the red army's sovereignty on the zone? I see, that sounds interesting…' He watched it blink, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. He looked over to Albion, to see nearly the whole flying country conquered by a single color. However, there were three zones there that is not that color. One was a clear blank, devoid of color, the other was the color blue with streaks of yellow, and another is a jet black. As black as the heart of its conqueror. He laughed.

"Reconquista really doesn't know the meaning behind the Code Crowns! I'm sure that if we can somehow offer a deal, we can take those. But what I was interested the most is, the Red Zone. This was an unknown variable. All other armies in the area are easily manipulated, provided that the stupid familiar of the jet black ruler remains under the spell of loyalty." With such thoughts, his laugh, broke the silence in the halls, unable to hold back his true personality.

* * *

**Taiki**

* * *

As luck would have it, he didn't need an alarm. Because an hour later, 11:16, he was awoken by a sound:

"**PIIIIKUUUU!"**

The voice of the White Pickmon disturbed the tranquil night.

* * *

**Chapter End**

* * *

R Monitamon: Update on the Zone Wars!

**Count Mott's Estate renamed as: South Tristain Zone**

**Tristain Monarch Henrietta Challenges Xros Heart Army for Territory: South Tristain Zone**

**? captures [_] Zone**

**[-] Army Captures Romanian Sea Zone**

LW: No spoilers for next chapter today, but yay for updates huh? No; I don't have a standard for chapters except more than 2500 words, so this chapter might seem short for you, but it's long enough for me. Reviews are much appreciated, thank you!


	9. Meeting Fouquet! Fighting the Princess!

**Xrosed Path of the Familiar  
**by Lunar Wave

* * *

**Meeting Fouquet! Fighting the Princess!**

* * *

"PIIIIKUUUU!" Taiki woke up with a startle, as he turned to the panicking White Pickmon. Pickmon's outburst caused many things to happen. Taiki who was sleeping in the futon on the floor, stretched slightly, only to find Siesta waking up right next to him. Having no time to ponder on why she was there, Taiki pushed the girl off of him. It appears that she was a deep sleeper.

Taiki turned to the bed, to see that Henrietta was also sound asleep. Taiki slipped out of the futon and checked his Xros Loader.

"Time." He said shortly. He needed to know just how much time it would take before his duel with Henrietta.

"11: 17..." murmured a sleepy Wisemon. "Is something the matter, general?"

"It would appear as though Fouquet has decided to move again." Taiki replied. "Or at least... Miss Longueville has." And with that said, he stood up, his crown shirt slightly crumpled from being slept in. Taiki ran out the door. He ran down the corridor leading to the backdoor. As he exited, he found a standing Tabitha in front of the door leading into the back of the Servant's Quarters.

Taiki wasn't exactly what you would call relaxed at the time, and so, forgot complete about his promise to allow Tabitha to visit the princess. "Yeah, yeah, nice to see you too, Tabitha... Did you see any suspicious characters on the way here?" Tabitha was about to say 'you', but she knew that the boy is far from the just a normal boy and thus has no real reason to be more suspicious to that movement. I don't really have much to think about.

"None." Tabitha's eyes turned to look at Taiki. Her eyes said it all as far as Taiki's concerned. Her eyes were basically telling him: 'Should I have seen one?' Taiki shrugged and without a word rushed out the door.

He did not notice he left behind Derflinger.

* * *

Miss Longueville, or should we say Fouquet of the Crumbling Dust, stood near the door of the Treasure Room. Tonight, she had drugged the perverted principal and the scholastic professor, both not noticing whatever happened. She just wanted to be sure that the magic is truly impossible to crack for a square class Earth mage like herself. And as it would appear, it was true, she groaned. She tried once more, pushing as much magic as she could to push it open.

"... So... *pant* you really *pant* are..." Fouquet spun around, finding a boy that had, many times, ruined her reconnaissance. Ruined her mission, her task to claim the deadly Staff of Destruction from the school treasury. Ruining her chance of sending back another hefty sum of money to the orphanage she was maintaining back on Albion.

"... Gandalfr." She said this word with much anger, much contempt, and much hatred. Gandalfr was standing in front of her once more. The shirt with the crown insignia was his choice of clothing today, almost like any other day. She could see that he didn't have his sword today, but his hand was holding the red object. Fouquet contemplated whether attacking the boy or not. "Does your master know about you housing a girl in your little den?" Fouquet didn't know exactly who that girl was, but having overheard Old Osmond mention a girl in the boy's room. Fouquet deduced her to be the servant girl that he brought back to the academy. After all, it can't be the princess, right?

"So you knew about that. As expected of you, you don't miss much. Fouquet." The boy casually mentioned. Fouquet quickly calculated in her mind. Gandalfr was here. Without his sword, as far as she could tell, but she knew about his ability to pull out weapons right from that little red item that he keeps in his back pocket. "Or should I say... Miss Longueville?" This broke out Fouquet from her reverie, and her body got more steel in it.

"My my… If there's someone who doesn't miss much, it's you. Even Old Osmond hasn't figured it out. So, what gave me away?" Fouquet asked casually, as she started thinking up ways to get out of this situation. She can't just chant now. She's in a very tight spot. She started walking backwards, away from the door, towards the sole window in the corridor. The red-clad warrior followed without increasing or decreasing the distance between the two of them.

"Well that's pretty simple really. Not one of the people in this school is a square class earth mage." Of course that would get her caught. Gandalfr most likely had knowledge of who the mages are in the staff, noticed the conspicuous lack of square class earth mages, the triangle Chevreuse the Red Clay being the one closest to her in strength. And her body type is far different from the slender figure of herself. She herself had hidden her skill in magic, and simply referred to herself as a disgraced dot earth mage. But Taiki had seen through all that. Gandalfr looked on her with much contemplation, "Why do you steal?"

"Why should I respond to that, Gandalfr? You don't know anything!" Fouquet growled, "You're just a commoner, who grew up a commoner, and still a kid who hasn't experienced the hardships of life."

"I don't know any justifiable reason as to why one steals."

"Exactly! You don't know anything of the world's hardships." Fouquet replied, "I don't steal things just because I want to! And if you're here to get in my way, don't expect me to be lenient to you. Taiki simply looked at the still backing up girl.

"Give up, Fouquet." the Familiar said. "I don't know what drove you to steal stuff, but to take things from others is not really a good thing, you know? Some objects are too precious for another just to take. Like someone's first bicycle, someone's first love, someone's friends. You can't just take those and hope that and expect to be forgiven."

"I didn't ask for your forgiveness, Gandalfr! And why do you think I would give up to you?" Fouquet snarled. This was bad. She was in a narrow corridor, which had so many anti-magic placed on the walls, disallowing any form of manipulation, and she was facing someone who can summon weapons out of nowhere, particularly that giant hammer he summoned last they met. So all she could think of was a way to temporarily blind the young boy and mad dash away, her mission to steal the staff thrown out the metaphorical window and herself through the literal one. Maybe she could-

"The reason you should give up? Maybe, because, you have two staves from two triangle class mages pointed at your back." All escape plans had evaporated from Fouquet's mind evaporated upon hearing new voices from behind her. When did they get there? There was only a window... She was answered by seeing a blue dragon flying serenely just outside the window she planned to jump out of. Two figures sat on the back, both their staves, one made of wood, the other of steel with a gem adorning its end, pointed at the cloaked figure.

"Ann, you're awake?"

Fouquet gasped slightly. The... the princess? The princess herself? Why was she? Why was she here? And what's worse, it's that Chevalier from Gallia! This was so not good.

"... Surrender." This one word from Gallia's Chevalier was all Fouquet needed. She got rid of her hood and sighed. There was no escaping. And with that, a white little triangle shape creature ran out of one of Fouquet's Pocket and disappeared into the Gandalfr's Xros Loader. The Chibickmon's job is over.

* * *

"Sir Taiki... I told you to inform me if Fouquet makes any moves, correct?" The princess asked, as she sat on Vestri Court. It was 11: 50, ten minutes before the promised duel. They both were doing something to prepare themselves for it; Taiki is doing a few warm-up exercises whilst Henrietta was mentally remembering each and every combat oriented water magic she knew. Tabitha stood nearby, patiently maintaining a sort of soundproof barrier around the court. This late in the night, no one would be awake. And with Tabitha there, no one would even so much as hear a thing. The girl was initially reluctant to allow the duel to begin, but she was eventually persuaded, even though neither Henrietta nor Taiki explained to her why they were dueling to begin with. Siesta sat nearby, with first aid supplies ready to be used.

"You were sleeping so peacefully, I decided not to." Taiki shrugged. It would appear as though both Henrietta and Siesta was roused by the wailing left behind sword. After asking the sword about Taiki's location, which they received a negative. This was soon followed by Tabitha's entrance into the room. When Tabitha responded by saying "Suspicious Person", upon being asked about Taiki's Location, Siesta had remarked on it most likely being Fouquet. Henrietta immediately smoothed out her clothes and followed Tabitha, who had immediately responded to the thought that the suspicious person was Fouquet. And thus, the princess and the chevalier was there to point their weapons on the thief. "Is everything all green, Tabitha?" Tabitha blanked out at the expression but was able to get the correct meaning and nod.

"So 9 minutes left." Taiki shrugged, walking over to one side of the courtyard. "… Would we be able to get Cutemon here, Shoutmon?"

"We're currently negotiating with Akari as we speak." Taiki replied. "Just make sure the battle is nice and long. Akari is still pretty angry about you disappearing."

"Right. Okay then, hope you can make things work out." Taiki nodded, having no clue why Akari would be angry about him disappearing and just pegged it as her being worried for his health, as per usual.

"Shouldn't you be prepared yet, Partner?" Derflinger asked the boy from his sheath.

"Just about, Derf." Taiki finished his warm-up exercises, and held out his Xros Loader. Spinning the dial, he yelled. "Shoutmon! [DigiXros]!"

Initially, Shoutmon had wanted to fight himself, but Taiki pointed out that his draconic features would merely make her doubt his position as king and call him actually a familiar. Shoutmon grumbled about that a bit, saying that royals should fight royals, but conceded that at the very least, he wants in on the action. And so, Taiki and Shoutmon were DigiXrosing once more.

Henrietta, on the other corner, could only watch in awe as she saw the yellow scarf suddenly wrap itself around Taiki, the headphones with the crown insignia marked firmly over his ears. Taiki carefully pulled the headphones down, so that he could still communicate for the remainder of the 6 minutes that remains till the two's duel.

"Is there a Code Crown for this area?" Henrietta asked. Taiki responded by looking through the map function that shows Tristain. He could see the blinking Territory of South Tristain Zone, and he could also make out a Zone around the Academy, all the way to Tristania.

"It would appear that the Magic Academy and Tristania is in the same Zone, known as Central Tristain." Taiki replied. Henrietta gulped, thinking on the fact that she was, in fact, fighting on what is considered territory of her own Capital. Taiki shrugged. Henrietta looked down on her clothes. She was currently wearing her princess clothes, meaning that she would be very hindered when it comes to movement, she grimaced. She would have to keep as far away as possible from Taiki. That would be difficult, considering that Taiki seemed to be the type to get up close and personal. This wasn't favorable for her.

"Okay, last check on rules?" Taiki asked as he looked onto the four minutes left on the clock. "First of all, we're going with the points system. Every significant hit on your opponent counts as a point to you. For example, if you only scratch my shirt, it won't count as a point. Nor would getting a really weak punch in. Scratching your opponent will count only as a fraction of a point, and not be recognized as a point until you get enough scratches in. If you get a really powerful hit in, the points you gain will increase dependent on the strength." These rules, however, were very much favorable for Henrietta. Magic allowed for multiple attacks, and powerful ones as well. A physical fighter like Taiki could only get a few good hits in before she can get away and barrage him once more.

"Tabitha will count the points, seeing as she's a Gallian National, and neither of us are of Gallian Descent, she is sufficiently neutral for our case." Taiki casually said. "But on the unlikely case that Tabitha would cheat, I would also put forward Two Monitamons who will show the points on their screens, with Wisemon next to them. Tabitha will then tell Wisemon which points should be recorded, which Wisemon would decide whether it was truly worth the points, and will be the one to tell the Monitamons to increase the score. Do not worry. Wisemon is… not biased against you just because he's one of my partners."

"So the points in itself would be on an honor system." Henrietta shrugged. "Not like it matters. If we knock the other out within the time limit, which we both agreed to be 20 minutes, it is the win of the one who does not fall. If both falls, it is a draw, and if neither falls, it'll be the points that will decide our fate." In these rules, Henrietta knew that she was at a slight disadvantage at allowing Wisemon to record points, in the case that Wisemon cheats. So Henrietta would need to knock Taiki out, if she wants her win to be unconditional.

"Monitamons [Reload]." The two red little ninjas with CRT TVs for heads displayed 0s on their faces, jumped out of the Red Device. Taiki breathed slightly, groaning at the energy drain he received from [Reload]. Taiki merely shook himself, willing himself to remain looking strong, even though the maintaining of the Monitamons would be taxing on him. He knew that, if Henrietta was aware of the drain he received from [Reload] she would automatically refuse to fight, saying she wishes to fight him at full strength. With a determined look on his face, he placed the Xros Loader in Siesta's hand, who holds it deftly near her Tabitha's ear. He then returns to the middle of the court where Henrietta waits.

"… Well then. Monitamons… start the countdown." The Monitamons nodded, displaying a countdown, from 30. 29.28.

"And so… Anything else we missed?" Henrietta shook her head. 25. 24. 23.

"So… may the better one win." Taiki reached out his right hand.

"Don't hold back." Henrietta shook it firmly, like an equal. 14. 13. 12. They then moved back to their respective corners. Taiki puts the headphones back on his ear, summoning Shoutmon's Microphone. The Gandalfr Runes shone brightly. 5. They tense. 4. Taiki immediately crouches to a position that allows him to sprint forward at the moment that that time reaches its end. 3. Henrietta, raised her staff, prepared to shoot as much water in her initial blow, the words of the chant already on her lips. 2. Tabitha looks on the field warily, watching for any untoward movements. 1. All three human's eyes narrows. Zero.

* * *

And so it began the battle between Taiki and Henrietta. Between General and Princess. The Code Crown that was their prize flew from the Xros Loader and now shines above the two.

[Rowdy Rocker] Taiki rushes forward, his eyes wild by the influence of the skill. But the young princess was prepared. She jumped as far away from the skill, all the while chanting. Her aria finished, water flew from the end of her scepter, forming a torrent of water. Taiki jumped back, swatting the water to crash. She immediately threw a few more water bullets in retaliation.

It was times like these was when the princess regretted that she wasn't square class. She was sure that if she was, she could probably keep that torrent going even with the microphone hitting it. But she wasn't going to give up yet. Taiki was definitely strong, she already knew this. How strong, she didn't know, but she wasn't going to take the risk. She gathered up enough strength to do another spell another aria, when Taiki rushed forward once more.

She recognized the two weakness of a mage compared to a warrior, like Taiki, now. Despite Taiki not using magic, he was most assuredly able to fight on par with her, perhaps more. Her first weakness, she realized when she got hit. Without a defense, mages are useless. And yet so many mages think so lowly of the frontline soldiers merely because they're commoners. The second weakness she realized when she fell on the ground. They weren't exactly made for battle. She could barely stand after that attack. She quickly muttered a healing spell to numb the pain, even though it won't be much use. She looked up to the Monitamonz faces. 1-3, in favor of herself.

"… You stood up. Not even Guiche was able to do that." No one knew if that was a compliment to the princess or an insult to Guiche, but, knowing Taiki, it was most likely the former. Taiki jumped back. He was holding onto his body, as though pain was starting to slip through.

"… I think the points over there are lying." Henrietta mentioned, as she took a stance once more. "I barely even hurt you."

"You hit Taiki with three shots that practically bruised three parts of his general body area." Wisemon idly replied. "It was only the madness that [Rowdy Rocker] brings that allowed Taiki to rush forward."

"Truly different from the same ranked Count Mott." Taiki grinned. "But then again, I was using an anti-water shield against him."

"Then use that against me. Don't hold back."

"This IS me not holding back." Taiki responded. "Shoutmon is my best and most trustworthy partner."

"So this is the power of King Shoutmon himself?" Taiki nodded to answer her question. "Let's resume."

An aria was in her breath. Taiki nodded, and rushed forward once more, his clothes dragging him down slightly from the moisture in it. Henrietta noted this detail, as she shot a few more water bullets. Water flew from the edge of her scepter, willing it to form ice. She was unused to this sort of skill, but she knew this was her only chance. One chance, one shot. She knew she wouldn't last the 15 minute allotted time. What she needs to pull off, rather than a beat down, was an assassination. She casted a veil of water, blinding everyone of what's going on. Her only chance, as Taiki won't fall for this again.

* * *

"What the hell?" Taiki wondered idly as the water sprayed against his vision, distorting Henrietta's image. Taiki shrugged, and decided to do something he had yet to do in this form. This might disperse the veil, allowing him to break through and strike the princess with a decisive blow.

[Rock Damashii] A flaming music note gathered in his outstretched hand. He then prepared to throw it, when he realized that the princess was no longer in front of him, he turned around to see a clear path in the water in which Henrietta rushed forward in. Taiki spun around, [Rock Damashii] still in his hand. He pushed it forward, as Henrietta's ice knives flew across the gap. The explosion that caused Henrietta to back off, the flames that erupted in the chaos, Henrietta fell, her clothes burnt. She cursed herself for her weakness, her inability to do anything. Taiki was strong. Too strong. She fell asleep, no more, thinking.

* * *

Tabitha inspected the battlefield. The fight lasted a total of 7 minutes and 13 seconds. Taking carefully the rules that were placed in the beginning of the match, Tabitha announced the result.

"Result: Draw."

But neither Taiki nor Henrietta heard the announcement. Henrietta, knocked out from the explosion caused by [Rock Damashii], and Taiki, crushed by gallons of water cascading from the falling veil, neither of them were in any way ready to hear the results. But all in all, it was for the best, as the Code Crown once more entered Taiki's Xros Loader, being indecisive on the winner of this match. It decided to do one thing, to solve this problem.

**Xros Heart Excellion Formed**

**Xros Heart Army added as branch of Xros Heart: Excellion**

**Tristain Monarch Henrietta added as branch of Xros Heart: Excellion**

**South Tristain Zone has been captured by the Xros Heart: Excellion**

* * *

"Oh my… I'd never thought of this outcome." The mysterious man laughed.

The once Pure Red coloring of the zone Tristain Zone was now a deep Scarlet Red.

* * *

**Chapter End**

* * *

LW: Normally, I'd place those updates HERE, but it needed to be up there. So just an author's note on what MIGHT come next.

With both the princess and Taiki knocked out, the Code Crown saw it fit to unite the two under the same banner. How would Henrietta and the Xros Heart deal with this? And with the OFFICIAL coming of the princess being the very next day, how would they explain the injuries upon the royal highness's person? Find out on the following chapter of XPotF! Reviews would be much appreciated, especially things you expect to see soon.

R Monitamon: Your ripped off Nanoha with that new Army name!

LW: Oh shut up.


End file.
